Under Review
by Halbarad
Summary: It's a new year at school, and Haruhi's frustrated with the state of affairs in the Brigade. In order to get things back on track, she decides to give everyone their annual review... Diverges after book 8.
1. Chapter 1

Under Review

A fanfiction of Suzumiya Haruhi

The characters depicted herein are solely the creation of Nagaru Tanigawa; I'm just borrowing the keys to the car for a while.

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><p>The last couple of weeks have been kind of crappy. With the new year starting, I've been trying to find new recruits for the Brigade, but none of the new students have been interesting at all! Not just that, but I haven't been able to dig up any dirt on the student council since then, either - the president's been laying low since his ignominious defeat. It's not like we'd do any less! But still, it means things have been so <em>boring<em> since then.

I was expecting to get the Brigade to do something over Golden Week, but Kyon's mom insisted that he had to go take his little sister to visit family way out in the country - some kind of family tradition or something. Kyon claims he tried to talk her out of it, but knowing him that probably just means asking if he's got to take his sister this year and sighing when his mom says yes - he's not very good at saying no to people. Then again, neither is the rest of the Brigade; I can't even think of a time when anyone but Kyon's tried to change my mind about anything!

I want to shake things up somehow. Since I couldn't get any new recruits, and there's no suspicious activity going on with the student council, though, I'm going to need to come up with some other way to spice things up a little.

Conquering another club? Hmmm... nah, I've already got the computer club in my pocket, and I'm not sure any of the other clubs would be any use. The supernatural research society is probably our closest competition, but they're boring; they're not looking out for local stuff at all. The rest of the clubs are even worse - the sports clubs would only be good for forced labor, and I've got Kyon for that already; if I got someone to replace him he'd just get even _more_ lazy.

Searching the city on weekends... well, we can stick to that, but it's usually more for hanging out than actually finding anything interesting. Good way to pass the time, but it's not really exciting, either.

Bleh, nothing outside the brigade sounds even remotely interesting. What about inside, though?

I haven't had any good costume ideas for Mikuru in a while... but then she's starting to get a lot busier, too, with all of her third year studies. Maybe I could dress up more myself...? Eh, it's an idea, but most of the costumes are either Mikuru's size or way too hot to wear with summer coming up, and I can't really think of anything awesome enough to go out and get. Costumes for the guys are out, too - about all they could do is cosplay and most of that's just _way_ too expensive to be worth it.

Kyon's over there playing shogi with Koizumi - who's losing miserably as usual. Hmm, Kyon's pretty good at those - I don't pay attention to all of their games since I've usually got better things to do, but I don't think I've ever seen Koizumi winagainst him.

Maybe we could do a boardgame tournament? I could charge an entry fee, then offer up a prize - then enter Kyon in and end up keeping everything for the Brigade! And that'd give us more money for costumes! This is perfect!

Just as I start to stand up, ready to announce the plan, Koizumi stretches and Kyon covers up a gigantic yawn. That... would be the part I didn't think about, watching board games is pretty boring - we should only be doing that kind of stuff when there's nothing else to do. Koizumi and Kyon have both turned to look at me, since I'm half out of my chair, but I just shake my head and sit back down.

It sucks! No one else is going to come up with any ideas if I don't; everyone's been keeping quiet around me lately so I doubt I'd even get any suggestions if I asked for them directly. Although, if I'm really being honest I'll admit that... I may have been a bit on the touchy side lately.

Maybe I should just, I don't know... mix things up for a while? With Mikuru getting busier, maybe I should have Yuki try being the mascot for a while. Still the problem of costume sizes there, but she did look kind of cool in that witch's costume in the movie last year, and stuff like that should be pretty easy to put together.

The only problem I can see with that is Koizumi and Kyon. Koizumi's second-in-command, after all; not that he really _does_ anything with it that I've seen. I'll admit that the idea of making Kyon second - at least for a while - is kind of tempting. I wonder if he'd actually do anything with it; maybe I could make him organize a couple of events just to see what he comes up with.

The only downside I can see - even if it's not a very big one - is that it'll look funny if I just _give_ the second-in-command spot to Kyon. He's pretty lazy, after all, and it's not like Koizumi's done a bad job or anything; he just hasn't done anything at all, really. It'd be good if I could come up with some excuse why Kyon gets to try out the second-in-command spot.

Actually, that's an idea. It's been about a year since the Brigade got started - maybe I should review everyone's progress and use that as the excuse for all of the rearrangement? It'll be a good way to record all we've gotten done this year, too; I can use it to organize a record of the Brigade's activities, then we can use that for recruitment - this is perfect! I'll get it started during the club meeting tomorrow.

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><p>"All right, heads up everyone!" I slam my hands down on the desk to get everyone's attention. Kyon's the last one in - as usual - with Koizumi prodding him along, and since they've just made it in Mikuru's still in the middle of taking tea over to them.<p>

"I've decided that since the Brigade's first anniversary is coming up, it's time for performance reviews! Exams are too much trouble, so I'll be reviewing everyone's activities for the last year to determine your standing in the Brigade!" Kyon, as expected, heaves a sigh at this, but doesn't say anything.

Koizumi - well, Koizumi keeps that same old smile on his face and nods. It's almost creepy how he never seems to do anything but smile, at least whenever I've seen him. Yuki just glances up from her book, and Mikuru - also as expected - just looks like a deer caught in the headlights.

"I'll be busy with this for a while, so the brigade is dismissed! I'll have to see about tomorrow, since I don't know how long this will take," I say, nodding in confirmation.

With the announcement out of the way, I grab one of the laptops and wait by the door for everyone to leave so I can lock up. Kyon just shakes his head as he walks past. "I already know I'll end up last," he says with a sigh. "I can't remember the last time anyone but me actually got a penalty for anything."

"Maybe if you'd actually put some _effort_ in you wouldn't get so many!" I retort, but something pings at the back of my head at that. Is that really right? No one else has gotten any penalties this whole year?

I can't help but frown a little as I lock up the clubroom and head down to the station to go home. I'll... admit, I do tend to be harder on Kyon more than the others, but then he's the only one that pushes back when I do anything to him, either. It makes him easy to penalize for insubordination, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't actually appreciate that once in a while - it kind of stops being fun if I can get everything I want without trying.

Kyon does have something of a point, though. I'm not sure it's right that he's the _only_ one to have earned any penalties this year, but it's definitely true that he'll have way more than anyone else does - which isn't going to look good if I give him the second-in-command position after that. Of course I am the Brigade's chief, so it's not like anyone's going to argue with me (except for him) but I should at least TRY to make this look somewhat fair. Hard work should be rewarded and poor behavior should be punished - no one wants to see their work get ignored, after all.

I pass Koizumi and Kyon as I head down the hill to the station; as usual, Koizumi's smiling and talking at length to Kyon about some abstract concept. Kyon, as always, looks irritated when Koizumi starts talking to him like that; I've overheard them once or twice before, but as far as I can tell it's just that Koizumi likes to ramble on about weird stuff from time to time and Kyon's the lucky recipient. I can kind of understand why Kyon would be irritated, though; if Koizumi tried to start up some weird talk like that with me I wouldn't stand still for it.

Here's the station, at last. Time to head home - I can start on the reviews after I get some dinner. I'll have to dig out all our photos from this year tomorrow; I don't want to haul them all home, though, so I can do that in the clubroom tomorrow. Now, if I can just get everything to work out the way I want it to... this year should get going a lot better than last year did!

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><p>Mom's left a note that she's out shopping and won't be home until late; since I've got the house to myself, I decide to put on some music and make dinner before I get started on the reviews. Probably better this way anyway, given Mom's cooking...<p>

Dinner and homework are both defeated quickly, then it's time to get started. After flipping the laptop open, I start up files for the four Brigade members - and after a minute, one for myself as well; I'm not perfect, and trying to find the areas where I need to improve is probably a good idea.

I decide to start with the low-hanging fruit. Kyon was definitely on the mark about the penalties; for mystery searches, it's easier to try to remember times when he _hasn't_ gotten a penalty for being late or slacking off. Only one comes to mind - the one time it ended up just being the two of us on a search, right after that really weird, vivid dream almost a year ago. I made him pay for our food anyway of course - what good is having minions if you can't make them take care of that kind of stuff? - but that's the only search we've been on where it was just me and him in a group looking for things. It's actually kind of frustrating; I'd like it if we could have spent more time doing that kind of thing, since it's somehow just that much more interesting when it's me and him...

I put the brakes on that train of thought. Yes, it's fun to imagine hanging out with Kyon more often, but it's not getting this done any faster either. I might as well give him some credit for that time, though, since he does get so many penalties in general, so I add it to his file. Since I'm still technically going through penalties, though, I spend a few minutes trying to remember if anyone else actually _has_ earned any penalties.

The only thing I can come up with still involves Kyon - namely, that 'date' between Mikuru and Kyon that the neighbor kid that I tutor told me about. I have to admit, though, that even though they earned a penalty for not telling me about their little 'outing', I should at least give them some credit for saving the kid's life. Mikuru and Kyon... I have to admit Mikuru can't be beat when it comes to the moe charms, but Kyon should be smart enough to see through that!

...dammit, I keep getting sidetracked on Kyon! That's it, no more focusing on Kyon for now, I'll work on reviewing the others first and come back to him.

Might as well start with Mikuru, since I just pulled up her file for that thing with my neighbor.

I'll give her credit for doing the right thing to save his life, but there's a definite penalty for going to spend time with Kyon behind my back - unsanctioned Brigade activities, that'll work! What else, though... in general, she gets a bonus for always having such a high moe factor, and she's always been willing to try out costumes - that's an added plus! She's always got tea in the clubroom, too, and I have to admit she may be even better than me at making it, so points there as well.

On the down side... well, while I appreciate the fact that she's willing to go along with what I do, it'd be nice if she showed some initiative to do things on her own too; about the only things she does by herself are getting dressed up for the brigade meetings and making tea for everyone, and I started her on doing both of those. Even if she doesn't really branch out much from there - and with her being in third year this year she might not have the time - she could maybe try coming up with some costume ideas on her own.

I think that'll do for Mikuru for general impressions, next is... hmm, let's go with Yuki next.

I'm... not even sure what to put down here - technically she's contributed the room, since it does technically belong to the Literature Club still, but aside from that I don't even know what to put down for her - she's always there, she's always got a book, and she almost never says anything.

She seems to be really good at just about everything she tries, except maybe acting; she was _amazing_ on the guitar when we were filling in for the missing ENOZ members at the cultural festival. She should probably get a credit for contributing in facing off against the student council, too, since we had to do the anthology to keep the room; I take a minute to give everyone a credit for that, since everyone contributed a story.

I'm going to have to give her the same criticism as Mikuru, though; she never does anything on her own initiative. She did come in costume to the cultural festival, but it was only that one time - even Mikuru's more enthusiastic about it than that! Mikuru at least picked up on stuff I sugg... well, made her do, but she stuck with it afterwards anyway. Yuki's so much a part of the scenery that I'd probably notice her more if she was missing.

She seems pretty close to Kyon, too - I remember she said she had family issues that she felt like she could only talk about with him - but I guess I can't really fault her for that too much; Yuki seems like the kind of person that doesn't make friends too easily, so it's at least good that she has someone she feels like she can talk to. I suppose Kyon should get some credit for that as well; even if I'd like it better if Yuki trusted me with stuff like that, at least Kyon's looking out for his fellow Brigade members.

For Koizumi... hmm. Where do I even start on this one...

Well, the easiest impression is that he's a massive fake. Definitely had the mysterious transfer student thing down, but he's so plastic and shallow that I'm half convinced he's either hiding something massive or he's completely obsessed with his image and tries way too hard to keep it up. It's easiest just to ignore him; if he did have a secret, it'd probably just turn out that he's some kind of massive otaku or something and doesn't want to get busted for it. Either way, though, it's annoying and worth a demerit - I'd like to think that everyone in the Brigade should be able to be honest with each other.

He's also more of a yes-man than even Mikuru is - while she never really says 'no' outside of some basic token protests, I've never heard Koizumi offer even that much. He -has- come up with ideas before, which is better than Mikuru and Yuki, but half the time it's stuff I'd been thinking about anyway, so it's hard to give him much credit for that when all he really did was beat me to saying it. And for the one really good idea he did have, the island mystery, all he did was follow my directions when he came up with the one for winter vacation. And it wasn't much better than a kind of lame story that time, too! He gets credit for creativity for the original one, but points off for the second one; it was just way too lazy.

And finally, Kyon. Where to begin...

Well, I guess I already have. On the negative side, he's got no motivation and he's lazy; that's where all the mystery search penalties have come from. Kind of insubordinate, too - he likes to either snark about or argue with my ideas. If I'm going to be perfectly honest, though, that might actually be better than what the others do; Mikuru just quietly going along and Koizumi agreeing almost immediately to whatever I suggest. I guess I won't count off for that, and it kind of offsets the lack of initiative - it at least shows that he's thinking for himself, even if he doesn't always agree with me.

And I guess he did show some initiative, too; he was the one that came up with the idea and put up the poster for the SOS Brigade to take care of students' issues, which got us the case with Sakanaka and J.J. - and I guess the first case with the computer society's president, although that one never really went anywhere.

As I'm noting this all down, I notice the previous note about the one city search he made; on thinking about it, he's probably got better attendance than any of the other club members. I know I penalized him for attendance when he was in that coma in December, but honestly I suspended all the brigade's activities during that period anyway so we could all keep an eye on him. It gives him something extra on the positive side to outweigh the negatives he's picked up.

On the positive side, he's got the stuff I added for him about initiative, but he's also got the note I added from Yuki - watching out for other Brigade members. I do have to admit that's probably one of his strongest points; not just Yuki, but he also watches out for Mikuru, too. Maybe more than is really appropriate between two Brigade members! I'm about to mark him down for that, but... really, when I think about it, it's probably better that he's watching out for her than not. It's not like they've actually done anything inappropriate; there was the 'date' a few months ago, but neither of them's really given any sign that they're actually dating, and it's not like I've forbidden any other Brigade members from meeting and doing things outside of official activities.

After thinking about it for a minute, I decide not to count it against Mikuru, either; I'd be a bit of a hypocrite if I let Kyon off the hook for it and penalized Mikuru, even if I suspect it was her idea to begin with. She could probably talk Kyon into carrying her all the way to Tokyo!

I consider adding some general impressions on my own sheet, but I suppose that wouldn't really be fair, which is the whole point of doing these reviews in the first place. If I come across anything that's particularly important while going through our activities from this year I can note it down, I suppose. Maybe after I finish up the others I can ask them for their impressions of me, too.

As I consider starting to review the Brigade's activities in the last year, I end up absently staring at Kyon's file - where I see the note about attendance for Kyon. As I think about that search a bit more, I find myself smirking; that was probably the most fun I've had on a mystery search, even if he did try the dumbest prank during it - claiming that I already had time travelers, aliens, and espers in the Brigade.

Oh, why the hell not? With a grin, I put down the descriptions next to the other Brigade members' names on their files.

NAGATO YUKI - ALIEN

MIKURU ASAHINA - TIME TRAVELER

KOIZUMI ITSUKI - ESPER

KYON - ?

SUZUMIYA HARUHI - ?

Since I still need to go over all the events to catalogue all the unusual stuff we did in the past year anyway, it'll make a fun thought exercise as I go - it'll be funny to try to imagine these kinds of people doing all the stuff we did, since I'm sure they'd be doing way more interesting things anyway.

Just as I'm about to get started, I glance at the laptop's clock; it's later than I thought. I should probably save this for tomorrow after school. I can work in the clubroom and go through all the photo albums to refresh my memory.

I'm feeling good about these reviews - I'm sure I'll build up a good picture of all the Brigade members, which should be useful for all kinds of stuff - movie casting, special projects, you name it. I'm definitely glad I had this idea!


	2. Chapter 2

Under Review

A fanfiction of Suzumiya Haruhi

The characters depicted herein are solely the creation of Nagaru Tanigawa; I'm just borrowing the keys to the car for a while.

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><p>Classes are a drag today; just after I got to school, I decided that I was going to give surveys to the rest of the brigade about each other for the reviews, since I'm not going to be able to put much down on my own review without some extra input. I might come across some stuff when I'm going over our activities, but I need to know what the others think of my strong and weak points, since they've got a different perspective from me - after all, it's my responsibility to be the best brigade chief I can be!<p>

I've got enough time at lunch to get over to the clubroom and type up the questions while I eat, then it's just a matter of printing off four copies. The rest of the day feels like it crawls by; I really want to get started on the next part of the reviews, although I do manage to focus long enough to write down the day's homework. At least all this stuff is easy, so it shouldn't take more than an hour once I get home tonight. Kyon's spacing out too, as usual, but once the chime for the end of classes sounds I'm off like a shot to the clubroom.

I'm the first one in today; it's usually a toss-up whether Yuki or I will be the first one in, but I beat her here today, at least. I wonder if she has cleaning duty today - I can't think of any other reason why she'd be late.

The first order of business is the survey forms. I get them printed off - our printer is really slow; I should probably get the computer society to replace it one of these days, but it'll do for now. It's not like we print out much from here. While I'm waiting for the forms to finish printing, Mikuru makes it into the clubroom.

"Ah, Mikuru-chan - don't worry about changing or making tea today, I'm going to be sending everyone home early again today," I inform her - she was already getting the maid uniform off the rack to get changed.

"O-oh, really?" she replies, hanging the costume back on the rack. "I... guess I'll just head home then?"

"That's fine, just take one of these with you and complete it." I hand her the first of the forms. "I want your impressions of your fellow brigade members! Be sure to fill it out for everyone; your name is on there too, but you don't have to put anything down for yourself at least. Still, if you want to write about your strengths and weaknesses, or goals for this year in the Brigade, put them down for yourself!"

"I... alright," Mikuru says, looking a little uncertain. "Are these due at some particular time?"

"No, just as soon as you can. I'd like to get them back tomorrow if possible; it shouldn't be hard. You've known your fellow Brigade members for almost a year now, after all." I look at the nervous upperclassman and sigh a bit. "And be honest! I want to get your real impressions of everyone else, including me; as the brigade chief, I have a duty to you and the rest of the Brigade to be fair and impartial in receiving feedback!"

Just as I'm finishing up this speech, Kyon and Koizumi come into the room.

"What's this about?" Koizumi asks, Kyon just setting his bag down next to his chair.

"The brigade meeting is being dismissed early today," I answer. "I'm still working on the reviews, so I'll need to use the room to go over our activities from the past year. Everyone needs to take a form, though - I want to get everyone's impressions of their fellow members! There's no specific due date, but the sooner the better - I'd like to get these finished up by this weekend if I can."

Kyon grabs one of the forms from the table and looks it over. "We need to submit feedback for you...?" he asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Absolutely!" I put my hands on my hips. "I was just telling Mikuru that it's important to be honest, too - I'll definitely be fair about receiving criticism."

Koizumi's looking over one of the forms now as well. "Are we expected to fill out our impressions of ourselves, as well?"

Urgh... I should have just waited until everyone was here! "You can if you want to; you can put down what you think are your strengths and weaknesses, as well as any goals for the upcoming year.

"Anyway, since you've got the forms now, you can go home; I'll be using the clubroom today to work on my reviews for all of you more." I give them all a sharp nod to dismiss them, then sit down at the computer and start opening up the folders that have all of our pictures in them.

The others murmur their goodbyes and head out, Kyon bringing up the rear. As he reaches for the doorknob, I call out to him. "And Kyon, I really mean it! Be honest about everyone... especially me." It's a good thing I'm behind the monitor; I can feel a bit of a blush forming. "I want to know what you honestly think of me, both good and bad."

Oky, yes, I'll admit it - I really do want to get Kyon's opinion more than the other three. It... for some reason, it just means a lot more to me than the others' does. Maybe it's because I really get the feeling that he _will_ be more honest with me about both my strengths and weaknesses.

I kind of just spaced out, but when I look up he's still standing in the doorway. I put my hands on the desk to stand up and ask what else he wants, but he just gives a wave. "All right, I will," he says. "I'll see you later, Brigade Chief."

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><p>I don't really want to have two computers going for this, but I've already got the reviews started on the laptop; after a moment's thought, I just print off another one of the survey forms for notes - it's got spaces for everyone in the Brigade anyway, and I can just consolidate stuff onto the laptop later. Just as I'm about to get started, I remember to put Kyon's joke descriptions next to everyone's name; it'll make things a little more interesting than just going through and putting down what everyone did this year.<p>

What's the unusual stuff that's happened this year... well, the first thing I can think of was the mysterious disappearance of our class representative, Asakura Ryouko. No pictures of that, though; Kyon was the only one that came along for that, and as I recall I practically had to drag him along to her apartment building. Not that we found anything there anyway. I mark it down on his sheet for participation, since it's something he did at least help me with that none of the others did.

After that... hmm. Nothing too unusual, really; there are a few pictures in here from that baseball tournament, then our Tanabata celebration; I even took a few pictures in here of everyone writing out their wishes. It's not really unusual, I guess, but I'll put it down for everyone since everyone did at least make wishes, and we're still going to have to wait to see whose wishes get answered first. The baseball tournament... eh. It was pretty much a wash anyway, so I won't bother with it.

After that was summer vacation; there's a whole folder here full of nothing but pictures from our trip to that isolated island. I pull out Koizumi's sheet and write down the isolated island mystery.

As I do, I notice the 'esper' description next to Koizumi's name and frown, tapping my pencil on the paper. While I have to admit the whole mystery setup was awesome and I'd do it again in a heartbeat, this is one of those kind of weird things about Koizumi every so often. I'd been reading a lot of mystery novels with closed circle setups right at the beginning of summer vacation, then out of nowhere Koizumi comes up with this trip out to an isolated island - a perfect location for a closed circle mystery - and uses it to set up a totally convincing murder mystery! For a while, I was actually worried that Kyon and Koizumi might have accidentally killed Keiichi-san!

Really, though, after the fact that whole setup kind of bugged me. It's possible that Koizumi spotted that I was reading a lot of mystery novels around that time, but it's not like I had them out in the middle of brigade meetings or anything. The other alternatives are that he was stalking me - let's _not_ go there, thanks - or that he just got incredibly lucky. Coincidence is probably the most reasonable option there, but it's still kind of spooky, given how much trouble he must have gone through to get that whole thing set up.

I give Kyon points for this as well, though; Koizumi told me he managed to work the whole thing out on his own, and that's why he spilled the whole setup to me. It's just more proof that Kyon needs to apply himself more; he's actually pretty clever underneath that apathetic exterior.

If Koizumi was really an esper, though... that kind of setup actually _would_ kind of make sense if he was able to read my mind and see what I'd been interested in - I was definitely looking into mysteries a lot right around then. I was so thrilled by the end result that at the time that I didn't really stop to think about the whole situation, but once I did later it kind of seemed off.

Anyway... the rest of summer vacation was pretty quiet; I remember Kyon getting worked up about finishing his homework right at the end, and Yuki actually seeming a bit tense, but other than that it was just hanging out with the Brigade and enjoying the end of summer.

Not much after we got back to school either, until the cultural festival and the movie. The cultural festival... well, for the festival itself, Yuki was the most amazing help - I had no idea she could play a guitar like that! With all the time she spends reading... well, it's definitely something she deserves major credit for, the concert would never have been a success without her.

"Aliens with guitar-playing abilities beyond the understanding of normal humans," I say, unable to keep a grin off my face as I look at the form. Yeah, right! And then the rest of the time they just sit in a chair in the Brigade clubroom, looking back... at... me...

I leap out of my chair from the shock. "Gah, Yuki-chan!" I gasp out. "When did you get here?"

She just looks back at me completely unperturbed, even though I must have sounded like a total idiot. "Less than five minutes ago," she replies. "Cleaning duty."

Well, that's what I'd figured, anyway, but still. "I didn't hear you come in at all! Why didn't you say anything when you saw that no one was here?"

"You are here," she replies. "What should have been said?"

"Well... that's... you should have at least told me you were here so I wouldn't be so surprised!" I sputter.

"My apologies. I had assumed you were occupied and did not want to be disturbed."

"I... well..." I shake my head a bit, trying to regain my composure. "Never mind that, I sent everyone home early today to work on reviews!" I fumble a bit, finally pulling out the last blank form. "Here, this is for you to fill out - give your impressions of everyone in the Brigade, including me."

Yuki takes the form, glancing down at the one I'm keeping notes on as she does... well, other than Kyon's stupid joke, there's nothing really worth hiding there - all I'm doing is keeping track of what events everyone participated in.

Oh, yeah... "Oh, and you don't have to fill out the section for yourself, but if you want to put down any strengths or weaknesses you feel you have, I'll include them with your review," I add.

Yuki nods once, taking the form back to the table and pulling out a pen - wait, is she going to fill it out _here_?

"H-hey, you don't have to stay here to do it! Everyone else has already gone home, so you can too if you want."

She just looks up at me with that same expressionless stare. "Is it a problem if I complete it here?"

"W-well, no, I guess, but it's not like you have to turn it in right away," I answer. "You know, if you need time to think about what you want to put down."

"That will not be necessary," the purple-haired bookworm replies, turning back to the paper.

Well, I guess it isn't really a big deal; it's not like I'm putting down my deepest, most objective opinions of everyone right now - this is just listing out activities for everyone.

I shake my head and get back to work - Yuki's certainly not going to be making a lot of noise or doing anything distracting, that's for sure. Even once she finishes she'll probably just go back to reading a book or something.

Anyway, back to the pictures. For the cultural festival itself, that's... pretty much it; the other major event there was the movie, but since that's by far the biggest thing we did all year I should probably take the time to rewatch it before I give people credit for what they did in it.

Even with that in mind, though, I sigh. One event from the making of the movie stands out to me more than any other, and for good reason. I tap my pen under Kyon's section a few times, then shake my head. Really, Kyon was right there - much as I hate to admit I'm wrong, I have to be honest and face up to what I did.

The pen moves down to my own name and scratches out underneath it.

- Failure to respect other Brigade members

- Endangering the safety of other Brigade members

It's true that I wasn't the the only one responsible for that; Tsuruya had just as much to do with it as I did. But... in the end, she's an honorary Brigade member and I'm the Brigade's chief - if these things happened and I had any part of it, it's my responsibility.

Wow, this just got kind of heavy. I shake my head a bit; it's done and over with, and at least I got the message - even if I never told him so directly.

After the movie... let's see. As far as weird things goes... hmm. Not so much weird, per se, but we did have the battle with the computer society after that; everyone did a good job helping out with that, but I did notice that Yuki seemed to be working especially hard on that fight, so I'll give her double points for that.

I glance up to see if she's still in the room, just in time to see her standing in front of my desk with her review form in hand. "What, you're done already?"

She nods wordlessly in response, and I take the sheet from her to look it over.

...yeah, this is exactly what I should have expected from Yuki.

For Mikuru? "A mascot. Uncertain, but faithful."

Koizumi's is: "An associate. Well-connected."

I get: "The commander. Forceful and unique."

Kyon is: "A friend. Very reliable." Interesting, fits with what I had down for him too.

For herself, she's got: "Fast learner. Difficulty with self-expression." I can't really say I'm surprised by either, but...

"This is awfully short, Yuki-chan! Really, just a word or two for everyone?" I tap the sheet of paper in my hand. "You could be more descriptive!"

"I am sorry," Yuki replies from the other side of my desk. "Is clarification needed?"

I frown a bit, looking over the form. "Well... maybe on some of these. Why is Mikuru 'uncertain but faithful'? I can see the uncertain part, but where does the other come from?"

"Asahina Mikuru frequently receives instructions that she does not fully understand or agree with," Nagato says in that same level tone. "However, despite her own uncertainty, she appears to do her best to carry out those instructions regardless."

Huh, that... actually kind of fits pretty well for Mikuru. I guess I never really thought about it that way.

"What about Koizumi? Mikuru's makes a little more sense now, but that's... really not saying much about him - just 'well-connected'?"

"I am... uncertain what else to say," Yuki says after a moment's pause. "Koizumi Itsuki is a very... private person. I cannot claim to know him with any degree of accuracy."

I open my mouth, ready to press her further, when I realize how hesitant she was there. Now that I think about it, Yuki... well, she's usually quiet, no doubt about that, but _lost for words_ isn't really something I'd apply to her. If she's hesitant about saying something, she must really be thinking hard about what to say... maybe she's not all that fond of Koizumi and doesn't want to badmouth him in front of me?

I decide not to follow it up; if Yuki doesn't really want to talk about Koizumi, I shouldn't make her. Besides, there _is_ someone here that I do honestly want to know more about.

"Kyon's the only one you call a friend; is he really the only person in the Brigade you think of that way?"

I'll admit, I'd like to think Yuki sees me as a friend, too, but honestly I really do want to know more about why she thinks of Kyon that way.

She blinks once, then speaks after a couple of seconds. "He has told you that I have had problems with my family.

"My... guardian had threatened to transfer me away, as my behavior here was not considered acceptable. He spoke to my guardian on my behalf to prevent this from happening."

My mouth drops open. "I... I had no idea it was that serious! I guess... he was able to convince your guardian to let you stay, then? I mean, you're still here, after all."

The bookworm gives a single nod in reply. "His arguments were sufficient to change my guardian's mind for the time being. It was his decision that if the situation were to change in the future, you would be informed and your help requested in dealing with the situation.

"Due to his concern and the support he has provided, I consider him to be my friend."

I sit back in my chair; I have to admit, I'm seriously impressed with Kyon right now. That he'd go that far to help another Brigade member - a friend -

Well, I won't say that I don't believe he could do it - I can definitely see that from him. I guess I'm more surprised that he did it without any kind of prodding or other motivation. Maybe I misjudged him on that more than I thought.

I shake my head a bit to clear it before continuing on - there's still one thing that bugs me a bit about that. "If it was that much trouble for you, though, why didn't you or Kyon come talk to me about it before now? If one of my Brigade members is being troubled like that, you'd better believe I'll be there to back them up!"

"It was his thought that you did not need to be burdened with helping unless his arguments were not accepted by my guardian," Yuki replies. "Since his own actions were ultimately sufficient, neither he nor I thought it necessary to trouble you with what had happened."

"Mmmm," I mutter doubtfully. "I'm not sure I believe that - sounds like he was just trying to hide it from me."

"He provided his word that he would seek your aid," is Yuki's answer to that. "Given that the burden placed on yourself and others would be significant for this request, I believe his choice was the optimal solution."

Come to think of it, I think Kyon did mention something like this back in December, but with everything else that was going on around then... well, I probably shouldn't have forgotten about that anyway.

I sigh a bit at that. "I guess I'll have to take your word for it."

Yuki hesitates for a moment, then nods. "I can confirm that his attempts to conceal things from your awareness have been minimal."

"Mmm." I shake my head a bit. "Anyway, thanks for getting that survey done, and for telling me about what happened with Kyon, Yuki-chan." I give her a smile. "You've given me a lot of good stuff to think about for these reviews! But yeah, since you're done, you can head home if you want to - I already sent everyone else home, and I'm just going to be going through the rest of our pictures for today."

With Yuki dismissed, I try to clear my head; given how quiet she is, I probably won't even hear her leave, and I should probably hurry up and get through the rest of these pictures. Let's see, now... I was just looking at the victory picture from the computer society duel, what's next...

A soft scrape from one of the folding chairs in the clubroom gets my attention with a jerk - Yuki's still here, and she's pulled her chair up next to mine at the computer?

"Yuki-chan? What are you doing?"

"I will help," she says softly.

I'm about to protest when I stop to think for a minute. Yuki did just tell me about some pretty troubling stuff... maybe she wants some company? And in the end, it's not like I'm doing anything super confidential here; all my personal notes and impressions are on the laptop, and all I'm really doing is looking through old pictures and making some quick notes.

I scoot my chair over a little. "Well... sure, if you want to, I guess I don't really mind," I reply.

The quiet girl just nods, picking up the paper and pen from where I'd left them on the table. Well, I guess she can take down the notes while I go through the pictures...

* * *

><p>Thanks to Yuki, getting through all of the pictures on the computer went a lot faster than I expected; I'd forgotten just how many pictures I'd taken of all the things we did. If I'd been doing it alone I'd probably still be working on it tomorrow! She actually helped out with more than just that, too. Her memory of everything we did and what each of the members did for it is almost uncanny. Maybe she's one of those people with an eidetic memory?<p>

Getting home after school was less fun today; Mom was already home and in the kitchen when I got there, so dinner wasn't particularly inspiring. It feels a little bad to say it, even if it is true; how exactly do you tell your mom 'sorry, but your cooking sucks, let me do it'?

Bah, best not to dwell on it too much. I pull the sheet and the laptop out of my bag and set them down on my desk. I can go ahead and get all of Yuki's notes transferred over to everyone's files pretty quickly, I think.

As I'm working on it, I have to suppress the urge to groan. I should have realized that Yuki would see the 'esper' and 'time traveler' notes next to everyone's names; I'm surprised she didn't ask me about those. The only thing she seems to have done is write down 'normal human' next to Kyon's name, though; that girl has a _strange_ sense of humor sometimes.

Once I've finished all of the transcribing, though, I lean back in my desk chair. I know there were some other strange things that happened that we _didn't_ have a camera around for; that whole 'snowblind shared hallucination' thing up in the mountains at New Year's is the biggest one I can think of.

Come to think of it, that's possibly the lamest story I've ever heard. I didn't really pay too much attention to it at the time, I'll admit, but in thinking about it more it's a massive stretch. Collective hypnosis? Okay, I can _sort of_ buy that with us all wandering around in the snow. A hallucination where time seems to move faster? Sure, I can see that too. But a shared hallucination where all of us experienced time moving faster -but still at the same rate-? Among five different people? I'm not sure I can buy all of that at once.

I frown a bit at Koizumi's file and add it in; 'half-assed explanation for the mansion over winter break'. I remember Kyon looking pretty baffled by the whole spiel too; I don't think he bought it either. Maybe I should ask him about it later; I put it down in his file just so I don't forget - I've been going through a lot of stuff the past couple of days.

Let's see, what else... Kyon's file is on top right now, what exactly did he do that we don't have pictures of? The biggest thing that sticks out in general is when he was in that coma just before Christmas. I... don't really want to give anyone any kind of credit or penalty for that, though; I know I made Kyon pay penalties for being 'absent', but it was easier to do that than say how worried he made me.

Come to think of it, Yuki actually seemed even quieter than she usually was when we were going through the Christmas party pictures. I guess if Kyon's helped her out that much she must have been pretty worried about him then, too.

Anyway, moving on - no sense in dwelling on it, he's at least fine now. What else did he do... hmmm. Heh, there was that lame prank back in February - pretty minor, but I think I've gotten most of his other stuff down. Claiming that Mikuru had been kidnapped... that's even worse than Koizumi's lame excuse!

I glance at the 'normal human' description - Mikuru was the time traveler, right? Even setting aside the prank, how does a time traveler even _get_ kidnapped? If they're from the future, they should know what's going to happen in the past and be able to avoid it anyway! Or at least go back and keep themselves from getting caught up in it. It'd be funny if the time traveler that went back to give the warning got kidnapped instead, though - the real one would never realize anything had happened! Of course, then you'd end up with the same person in two places at once...

I feel a frown forming. That... actually makes a weird kind of sense. Mikuru as a time traveler seems like a stretch, but if she was... I could actually buy her being clumsy enough to get herself kidnapped while trying to warn herself about being kidnapped. If I was with the original one and Kyon was with the time-duplicate... well, it would explain why he seemed so desperate about a prank.

I pick up a pen and tap it on the tabletop. Koizumi's got some circumstantial evidence towards being an esper too, and now that I think about it... this is giving me a weird sense of deja vu. After a minute, I realize why - Kyon wasn't the first person to tell me that espers, time travelers, and aliens were real.

I haven't actually thought about him in a long time; I came to North High in the first place in the hope of finding him, but really, it was a silly idea - he would have already graduated by the time I enrolled.

John Smith... well, it was obviously a fake name, but still. That strange, snarky North High student that showed up with his 'narcoleptic sister' on his back and helped me make that symbol on the track field at East Middle. I didn't spend all that much time actually _with_ him, though; I actually spent more time around his 'sister' since I was mostly just directing him all over the field with the line marker.

Wow, this really takes me back. 'Look out for the John Smith that will shake the world' indeed - he certainly shook mine! That whole thing was what got me interested in looking for the unusual, after all.

There's still something bugging me about that whole thing, though... what was it? John Smith... well, actually Kyon vaguely reminded me of him back when school started. I remember asking him if we'd met before, but obviously he wouldn't have been at North High yet when John Smith was.

...unless he'd traveled in time, maybe?

I can feel my stomach twist at the thought. Could that _really_ be it? But no, Yuki said that Kyon's just a normal human, so if I'm going with that theory that's not possible. _Mikuru's_ supposed to be the time traveler, after all, so for that to have happened she'd have to have taken... him... back.

The 'narcoleptic sister'.

I do remember she was a pretty shapely girl; I definitely remember thinking she had a really big chest, but with the way she was sitting on the ground slumped over I never really got a good look at her face at all. She... she did have hair a lot like Mikuru's, though.

I slam my hands on the desk and push myself back - I don't even know what I'm trying to do anymore. Am I trying to convince myself that Kyon _could_ be John Smith? That he is? Or that he couldn't be?

If he's not... well, Kyon and John Smith both told me the same thing - the same thing _exactly_ - three years apart. That espers, aliens, and time travelers were real. One of the two I believed, the other one I blew off.

What if they were _both_ right? And if they were... they _could_ actually be the same person.

Trying to control my shaking, I pull myself back up to the desk and the laptop, still showing Kyon's file.

At the top, I typed it in:

KYON - JOHN SMITH


	3. Chapter 3

Under Review

A fanfiction of Suzumiya Haruhi

The characters depicted herein are solely the creation of Nagaru Tanigawa; I'm just borrowing the keys to the car for a while.

* * *

><p>Ugh, I feel terrible this morning - I can barely focus on this morning's classes. I ended up staying up until almost 2 am trying to bring up everything I could remember about that Tanabata four years ago, mostly to see if I could either prove or disprove that Kyon was John Smith. In the end, I couldn't really prove anything either way.<p>

It comes down to two questions: 'is Kyon right?' and 'is John Smith right?'

I automatically assume John Smith is right, since if he isn't I've basically spent the last four years wasting my time, and no way I would have stuck with it that long if I didn't think it could be true. So what he said, I definitely believe.

The real question then becomes whether I believe what Kyon said. If I don't believe him, then it's pretty similar to not believing John Smith; I've pretty much wasted the last four years, or at least I have almost nothing to show for my efforts, which is a little depressing.

However, if I _do_ believe him... then the possibility - no, the likelihood opens up that he's also John Smith and he and Mikuru traveled back in time to meet me on that Tanabata.

For John Smith... well, I can't really put that at anything higher than an educated guess; Kyon definitely reminds me of John Smith, but I can't remember enough details about him from that night to be absolutely certain. However, if I'm working on that assumption, I do feel a _lot_ more confident in pegging John Smith's 'sister' as Mikuru. Enough so that I want to ask Mikuru about it straight out!

For Kyon, though... I rest my head on my hand and stare at his back. It's _really_ weird to be sitting in class and be nervous about talking to anyone - much less Kyon of all people! - but that's definitely the way I'm feeling right now.

What do I even say to him? I want to blurt out what I found and make him confess to being John Smith; really, after almost four years, I finally found him! Part of me wants to hold back, though; if I'm wrong, he's going to look at me like I'm crazy-

Okay, so there's nothing new about that. But still... if I ask him about being John Smith, I have to admit that he was right and I was wrong to blow him off when he said all of those things last year. I... well, I'm going to have to face up to that one way or another if he _was_ right, but before I talk to him, I want to _know_ that it's John Smith I'm talking to. I want to be able to say, "I've met aliens, espers, and time travelers, and you're the one that told me they were there."

Kyon half-turns to look at me, and I quickly turn to look out the window - I can feel my face getting warm, and I don't want him to see it.

"Something on your mind?" he asks - even without looking at him, I can hear a smirk in his voice.

"Nothing you need to worry about!" I retort. "You'd just better be sure to have that review done before the brigade meeting!"

"What happened to not having a due date?" he gripes.

"I changed my mind on how I want to get things done," I counter, the idea forming in my head even as I tell Kyon. "I'm going to talk to everyone about their impressions at the meeting today, one-on-one."

Yuki kind of gave me the idea - I found out way more by talking to her and asking questions than I did just by looking over her comments. And if I'm going to try to get evidence to prove that all of them are what Kyon said they were, maybe I can dig out some hints if I ask the right questions.

He just sighs in response, turning to stare out the windows the way I am. I have to wonder what _he's_ thinking about, now. Probably just bored with classes, but... what would I really expect from John Smith? I guess I always imagined him hanging around with aliens and other cool people, but... well, I guess technically he _has_ been, and I have too if Kyon's right. The kinds of stuff the Brigade usually does isn't exactly what I pictured doing when I wanted to 'have fun' with time travelers, espers, and aliens, but... all in all, I can't say it's exactly been _bad_ either.

I guess in a way, it sort of makes sense. If those strange and unique people exist, they'd either be so common that no one thinks they're unusual, or they'd keep their real nature a secret - that much is obvious. But if they're trying to hide among regular humans, they wouldn't really be able to go out and casually use flashy powers, either; that'd defeat the whole purpose of hiding in the first place.

It's around that point that the lunch chime sounds; I don't think I heard a word any of the teachers said all morning, but it won't matter in the long run anyway - they won't have gone over much that isn't already in the book. Time to run down to the cafeteria - gives me some time to think about what I'm going to do about Kyon.

* * *

><p>I'm still not managing to concentrate any better after lunch. Kyon's actually napping at his desk. I really wish I could do the same; I'm definitely tired enough for it, but my thoughts keep chasing themselves all over the place without going anywhere, and there's no way I could relax enough to sleep.<p>

As Onozuka-sensei starts up the afternoon lectures, I tap my pencil on my desk and turn to stare out the window again. I've spent almost the entire time since last night trying to work out Kyon and the whole John Smith angle, but what about the others? If Kyon is John Smith, then I also have a alien, a time traveler, and an esper in the Brigade, and I'm going to have to talk to them this afternoon.

Well, why not take it in order? Yuki's the next member of the Brigade after me and Kyon; she's the alien. As an alien... well, I have no idea if she has any kind of powers or not - other than playing the guitar, maybe. I have to grin at that - even if it's real, a guitar-playing alien is still pretty funny.

Honestly, though, if I was going to peg Yuki as an alien... maybe some kind of android. I can't ever remember seeing her with any expression distinctly different from the face she's usually got, and she does have kind of a clipped way of talking - sort of what I'd imagine a robot to be like, if a lot smoother than what computer generated voices are like now. I... honestly don't think she's _completely_ emotionless, but what she put down for her self-review sounds right - 'difficulty with self-expression' would fit her completely.

Thinking back to what she told me about Kyon yesterday, though, it takes on a whole new light if she's really some kind of alien android. If Kyon stood up to her 'guardian', would that be the person that created her or programmed her? I feel a chill run down my spine at that, and I glance up at his back. If he was willing to face down some kind of unknown aliens to defend Yuki... he's a lot braver than I gave him credit for.

As far as finding more information about her... well, from what I know of what she's like I don't think trying to spy on her would show much. She seems to come to school, stay for the meeting afterwards, and then go home - and when she's not specifically doing something else, she's reading. I'll have to think about how to handle her.

For Mikuru... well, I honestly have the most trouble believing that she is what she's supposed to be - why would the future send back someone that's so incredibly moe and doesn't really seem to have much else going for her? I mean, I don't dislike her, but really - it's hard to imagine her coming from future time full of super-advanced technology.

The other part of that would be, 'what exactly does the future hope to get out of sending people to the past?' I've read enough sci-fi to understand that changing the past would have a big potential to screw up the future, so if you traveled to the past you'd probably have to be really careful to make sure you didn't do anything that would mess things up. All you'd be able to do is watch history from up close, really.

...actually, if I put it in that light, Mikuru might make more sense. She's so moe that people can't help but want to protect her, and they wouldn't really suspect her of being much more than that. And if she has to be careful about not messing up the future, that might explain why she's so jumpy and nervous all the time.

As far as getting more information out of her goes, I might be able to get Sakanaka to keep an eye on her - or maybe Tsuruya, she was Mikuru's friend already and she's attached to the Brigade, so I might be able to get her to watch Mikuru, or ask her if she's seen anything suspicious. I should call her tonight after the Brigade meeting is over.

And for Koizumi as an esper... well, there was the whole thing with the mystery island last summer, but nothing else in particular stands out as _too_ weird. The thing that really bugs me about him the most is that plastic mask he keeps up all the time; he's always got that faint smile and I don't think I've ever heard him offer an opinion of his own around me - he usually just goes along with whatever I have to say.

That's kind of weird in itself, now that I think about it. Maybe I should push him to see how far that'll go.

Anyway, with the mask... I guess I could kind of see it a bit if he can read minds and doesn't have any control over it. If you couldn't control whether you were seeing people's thoughts, it'd probably be hard to react to what people are saying rather than what they were thinking. If that was all it was I could probably excuse it, but... assuming he's an esper, he had to have read my mind to set up that fake mystery over the summer, and that's really _not_ excusable - it's a major invasion of my privacy! If he can't avoid it that's one thing, but he should at least ignore it as much as he can!

Just the idea of it makes me really uncomfortable - the last thing I want is someone rooting around in my head without me even knowing! It could really be a problem if he starts looking now, too - I don't want the Brigade to know what I'm doing until I've got enough evidence to call them-

Whoa... I guess I need sleep more than I thought - I just got hit with a huge wave of dizziness. I should probably call it a night early tonight and worry more about investigating tomorrow; I won't be any good if I can't even think straight. Somehow, though, I feel strangely confident about Koizumi's mindreading; I don't think it'll be a problem during my investigation.

I shake my head a bit to dispel the dizziness - just in time for the chime to sound for the end of classes. Great, I didn't get any of our assignments written down, and Kyon's just waking up, so he's not going to be much use. I guess... I can give Sakanaka a call after the brigade meeting today to get those... and maybe ask for a favor.

After I get my books packed up, Kyon's still taking his time between waking up and putting away his things, so I decide to chivvy him along a little bit. "Hurry up, Kyon! I want to get your reviews out of the way first, so move it!"

"Of course," he replies with a sigh - but he's picking up the pace at least a little bit.

Once he's done, I grab his tie and start pulling him out of the room - although I'm not in so much of a hurry that I want to choke him, so I just keep it to a fast walk.

"You don't need to drag me, Haruhi," he says tiredly - well, that's the downside of not pulling him along at a run, he's actually got enough breath to snark.

"Since I'm checking your reviews first, I can't get started until you get there," I retort. "Really, you should be thankful! You'll have the rest of the afternoon free once you're done, since there won't be any Brigade activities afterwards!"

As we leave the room, we almost run over Koizumi - looks like he was waiting right outside the door? What is he doing up here rather than at the clubroom?

"A-ah, Suzumiya-san!" he says, looking... about as nervous as I've ever seen him. He's still got a plastic smile, of course, but he's sweating and flushed, almost like he ran to our classroom. Why would he do that? I don't like this at all.

"What are you doing here instead of heading to the clubroom?" I demand.

"I was, ah, just coming to meet Kyon to head over there," Koizumi stammers. "Since you're usually the first one to the room I imagine you don't usually notice that we often head over together."

I... guess that's true, but when I glance over at Kyon I can't help but notice an irritated look as he looks over at Koizumi. "Well then, I guess it'll be all three of us today, then."

I can't really put my finger on it, but considering Koizumi as an esper, there's just something... _wrong_ about the way he's always hanging around Kyon. I can't really explain it; if Kyon's just a normal person and Koizumi's an esper, why would Koizumi always be talking to Kyon? It's not like Kyon doesn't _know_ he's an esper, but...

The walk to the clubroom proceeds more or less in silence; Koizumi's doing his best to keep up with me while I'm towing Kyon, but if he was going to talk to Kyon about something the fact that I'm around seems to be keeping him quiet. Kyon just looks resigned to being dragged, but he hasn't given any indication that he wants to talk to Koizumi so I doubt that's bothering him.

Hmm... that gives me an idea.

* * *

><p>Once at the clubroom, I push Mikuru and Yuki out into the hall with Koizumi, then head over to stare out the window while Kyon sits down at the table. It's going to be hard to grill John Smith the way I want-<p>

No. This is _Kyon_, it's not John Smith. Yet. I want to believe it, and I'm pretty sure I'm right, but if I let myself get distracted by that I'm never going to get through this. I can feel my cheeks getting warm, so I stay facing away from Kyon for a minute to get my composure back.

"So, did you actually get your reviews done?" I ask, finishing off with a deep breath. I'll have to face him in a minute, after all.

"Yeah, I finished them up at lunchtime," he replies laconically, digging through his bag to get out the paper I gave him yesterday. "Here."

I steel myself, then turn around and take the paper from him before getting a pen out of my own bag and sitting down at my desk. I think I can keep myself composed now, but at least from here I can duck behind the computer monitor to keep from showing my face if I get flustered.

Taking a minute to scan over Kyon's answers, I start at the top of the sheet and work my way down. "Let's see... for Mikuru, you said that she's always trying her hardest, and you think that's very admirable. What exactly do you mean by that?"

It's actually not far off from what Yuki said about her.

"Eh... well, Asahina-san always seems to be trying her hardest, even when she's asked to do unreasonable things," Kyon replies. "And even for the more reasonable things, she always seems like she's trying to do her best, even when it might not matter. I was actually thinking of her tea there - I've heard you mention before how good it is as well."

Mikuru _is_ really good at making tea, that's definitely true. "Hmm, I see. I suppose that makes sense. Let's see, what about Koizumi... 'Not a bad guy, but needs to learn to speak more plainly.' What's that supposed to mean?"

I glance over the top of the sheet to see him frown a bit - looks like I was right, he doesn't look terribly fond of Koizumi either. I'm definitely going to be running with that idea now.

"Mmm, well, to be blunt, I find him pretty annoying," Kyon says - well, at least he's not beating around the bush. "He has a tendency to talk down to me almost all the time, and whenever he wants to say something he always has overly complicated explanations that take too long to get to the point. He wouldn't be so bad if he'd just say what he wanted to say."

That definitely doesn't sound good! I make a point to write it down on Kyon's sheet; if he's acting like he's better than Kyon just because he has esper abilities, what a complete jerk! Kyon could be exaggerating, I suppose, but given the way Koizumi acts... I don't really have any trouble imagining that.

"I don't like that, but if that's your honest opinion I'll take it into consideration," I tell him. "I'm next... hmm. 'Can be selfish and short-sighted, but has made significant improvements over the year. However, the brigade chief is at her best when helping others.'"

I just give him a level stare over the top of the sheet. He's... probably right about the selfish and short-sighted part, but I'm not about to come out and admit it to him directly.

He shifts nervously in his seat, then finally blurts out, "What? You asked me to be honest - twice even!"

"Selfish and short-sighted, huh?" I frown at that. Not really so much at him saying it, but more because it's not anything to be proud of.

"Well... at the beginning of last year, yes," Kyon says, looking unhappy. "Like I said, though, I do think you've come a long way since then, but if I'm being honest you really were pretty bad about not listening to what anyone said."

...wow, now _that_ hits home. I do my best to keep my expression blank, but really... if I'd believed Kyon when he first told me about the others, I could have spent the whole year learning more about them, rather than scrambling around now trying to prove him right.

"I did ask you to be honest," I say slowly, trying to keep my voice under control. "I can't say I like what you had to say, but I appreciate that you said it - thanks for being honest."

He seems to relax a bit at that, so I shake my head and move on. "You skipped yourself, I see, but that's okay, I said you could. Yuki is 'very reliable, but should speak up more when she needs help.'"

He nods at that. "Yeah... she's had some things that troubled her this year - she was bothered by a few things, and that caused her some trouble with her family. I really wish she would have said something before it got to that point, though."

"She actually filled me in more on that yesterday after you all went home," I confirm. "Something about her guardian not being happy with her and wanting to transfer her away?"

He starts a bit at that. "Uh... yeah, that's what it boils down to, pretty much. Thankfully, he changed his mind, but I was worried about her having to leave for a while."

I can't help but smirk a little. "Yuki said it a little differently - she said _you_ were the one to talk her guardian into letting her stay."

"I... did, more or less," Kyon answers, looking away from me. "Anyway, I don't think it'll be any trouble for her from here, but if something else happens I'm hoping she'll mention it to someone before it turns into something serious."

I nod at that, setting down the paper and pen. "All right, that covers everyone - good job on the reviews! You're done for the day; you can go home or whatever from here."

"Thanks, I think," Kyon says with a sigh as he grabs his bag. "Now I just have to look forward to going home and doing homework."

I follow him as he heads out of the clubroom; the others are waiting out in the hall - good.

"Later, Kyon!" I call to his back as he leaves... and notice that Koizumi's making a beeline for Kyon. Well, I can do something about _that_ at least.

"Hey, Koizumi!" I bark out. "Kyon's done, you're up next! You have your reviews for everyone done, right?"

That stops both him and Kyon in their tracks. "Ah, ah, of course, I'm just... I think I may have left them back in my desk," the pretty-boy replies. "If you can just give me a few minutes, I'll go and get them."

Even from here I can see Kyon heave a sigh at that, so I decide to give him an escape route. "Mmm, nah - if you did them you should be able to remember what you put down, it's not like the questions were difficult. I can just take notes for your answers."

"O-of course," he says, slumping a bit as he heads back to the clubroom. I can't help but notice Kyon smirking a bit - well, if Koizumi's been a jerk to him, maybe I can even things up some by tightening the screws on the current vice-commander.

* * *

><p>Once we're inside the clubroom, Koizumi sits down at the table and tries to compose himself; I can see the mask he usually wears coming back. Well, that's fine; I'll see what he's got to say, and by keeping him here for a while I can give Kyon some time to get to the station and go home without being bothered.<p>

"I'm surprised you forgot your reviews," I say to open things up as I grab Kyon's sheet from my desk - I'll keep Koizumi's answers on the back of it.

"I'm very sorry, Suzumiya-san," Koizumi says smoothly. "If you'd like I can still go get it - it shouldn't take me more than five minutes. Perhaps you could talk to Asahina-san or Nagato-san in the meantime?"

I smile a bit at that - this could be fun, just to keep Koizumi off balance. "Hmmm... nah, it's not really that big a deal. I'm just surprised - you're usually so on top of things related to the Brigade. You've always been ready to back up my ideas and everything, so I got the impression that you were really into it!"

"I... well, I do strive to support you in every way that I can," the possible esper replies, his face radiating sincerity. Which makes it seem even less sincere than the words sound... ugh. Well, time to try out that other idea.

"That's always good," I nod, putting some confidence into my voice. I'm not too bad at acting - or at least I think so - so it shouldn't be too hard to convince Koizumi that I'm being honest here. "I'll need your support coming up, too - I've found some rumors of yeti sightings in Hokkaido! Apparently they're migrating up into the highest parts of the mountains for the summer, so there have been a lot more sightings than usual. I'm thinking of getting the Brigade up there for a few days next week - if it's still going on, we might actually be able to find one!"

There's just the tiniest flash of shock on his face - if I wasn't watching for it specifically, I don't think I would have seen it at all. "Um... that sounds like a wonderful idea!" he replies. "I haven't heard anything like that myself, but surely we can find something if we go and look."

Yeah - I was right, he's just a complete yes-man. I wonder if he'd bat an eyelash if I announced we were going to go on a quest to find the Seven Lucky Gods.

"Obviously I haven't told the rest of the Brigade yet - I'm still working on some of the details," I say with a grin, Koizumi nodding along with every word. Hook, line, and sinker, I swear.

"I'll be sure to keep quiet about it until you're ready to announce the trip," he says. How did I never notice how smarmy he was before?

"Anyway, that's not really important for the reviews, I'll worry about that later. First off, what are your impressions of Mikuru-chan?" I ask, getting ready to take notes for his answer.

"Ah, for Asahina-san... well, I find her charming, really, but I can't really say much more than that. She doesn't seem to do very much on her own, after all, so it's hard to judge," Koizumi answers smoothly.

Which sounds a lot like my first impressions of Mikuru. You're really not helping your case here, Mr. Mind-reader.

"Hmm... anything else?" I frown. Actually... if he's reading my mind now, can he tell that I'm not exactly happy with his answer? Hey, Koizumi! You've got a fly on your nose!

If he's reading my mind now, at least, he doesn't react to that. "I suppose the only other thing I've noticed is that she does seem to put up a lot of fuss whenever you ask her to do something," he says, still smiling faintly, "so I'm not sure how seriously she takes her duties in the Brigade - it can't help that Kyon seems to leap rather quickly to her defense."

Wow. I'll admit that I'm not particularly crazy about Kyon rushing to Mikuru's rescue all the time, for sure, but... the biggest incident that happened where he stood up to me for her, he was _right_ - I've already called myself out for that, and he did too.

"So, you think she's insubordinate, then?" I tap the pen on my lower lip, scowling a bit.

"I wouldn't go that far - I haven't actually seen her _refuse_ an order, after all. It just seems like she's never very enthusiastic about doing things in the Brigade."

Well, if nothing else this is completely different from Yuki and Kyon's impressions of her. I make a point of writing down some quick notes, then move on.

"Let's see," I start off, glancing at the other side of the page to see what order the names are in. "You'd be up next; did you have anything to say about yourself?"

He shakes his head at that. "I don't want to presume to make comments about myself; I'm sure you'll give a fair assessment of my performance, after all."

But not the others, huh? Part of the reason I was asking for other opinions is because the rest of the Brigade will pick up stuff I miss - like Yuki filling me in about what Kyon did for her with her 'family'.

"All right," I shake my head a bit. "Next up is me - what did you think of my performance as the brigade's chief this year?"

"I couldn't really say that anything needs improvement," Koizumi says, shrugging a bit. "You've kept us supplied with a number of exciting activities all year, after all; the only thing I could say would be to keep up the good work - I'll be looking forward to what you have planned for this year!"

If he tried to suck up any more I'd have to use a crowbar to get him detached from my rear end.

...I think I just made myself sick. Now I'm not sure if he's an esper or a stalker - or worse yet, both!

"I appreciate the vote of confidence!" I reply, trying to put more enthusiasm into my voice than I really feel. I guess whatever was keeping him preoccupied is keeping him from reading my mind - or maybe he's not an esper. Still a possibility, after all, but even if he's not I'm not sure I like what I'm seeing here.

"Next up is Kyon. What do you think of him? I've seen that you spend a lot of time talking to him outside the Brigade, so you should have some good thoughts about him."

"Ah... Kyon is very reliable, I find. I've noticed that he's got very good rapport with almost everyone in the Brigade, although sometimes I worry that it might be distracting him from paying more attention to our activities. Regardless, he's quite good at making sure what needs to be done gets completed.

"On the less positive side, though I've noticed that he can also be a bit... harsh when expressing disagreement with your suggestions. I'd hesitate to label anyone as insubordinate, but I do think he's come uncomfortably close to that when stating opposition, at times. I've tried to intervene where I could, at least, and I think he's improved in that area since last year." Koizumi nods at his conclusion.

"Hmm, I see," I mumble, scratching down a few notes. This definitely doesn't line up with what I've noticed about Kyon, or what Yuki said about him either, but I don't really feel like pressing him on it - this whole conversation is really starting to creep me out. "What about Yuki?"

"Nagato-san is very capable, I think," is the reply, Koizumi's smile increasing a bit. "She's very knowledgeable about a wide variety of matters, but I wish she'd open up more - I don't really think she's spoken much to anyone other than perhaps Kyon. I've tried to talk with her on a few occasions myself, but she hasn't shown much interest in conversation with me."

I jot down a simple note for that - it's pretty much what Kyon said, too, so there's not really a lot I need to make note of there. "All right, I think that should cover everyone. You can go - send Mikuru in when you leave, I'll talk to her next."

"Of course, Suzumiya-san. I apologize again for forgetting my review sheet; I can get it to you tomorrow, at least." Koizumi gives me a slight bow before taking his bag and leaving. I just wave my hand absently in dismissal.

That... was seriously kind of creepy. It's like all of his answers were meant to be exactly what I wanted to hear; I'll be the first to admit that I usually get irritated by Kyon pushing back all the time, but at least when he does I can tell he's actually thinking about what I'm saying instead of just blindly agreeing with it.

He actually bought the whole Hokkaido idea! That was the stupidest, most outrageous thing I could come up with on the fly - taking days off from a school week to travel halfway across Japan to look for yeti, I mean really! He didn't even say anything about missing school for-

"Ah, Suzumiya-san?"

My head snaps up in surprise - just as Mikuru jumps back for apparently the same reason. "Ah- I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you, I just wanted to let you know I was here!"

I wave it off. "No, no, it's fine, I was just thinking about what Koizumi had to say." I look up at the busty upperclassman and raise an eyebrow. "You have your review sheet, right?"

"O-of course!" Mikuru replies hurriedly, fumbling in her bag for a minute before handing it over to me. "Umm... was that all you needed?"

I shake my head irritably - I hate having my train of thought interrupted like that, but I do need to get this done, too. "Take a seat, Mikuru-chan - give me a minute to look this over and I'll ask you if I need anything clarified."

"Alright," she answers, sitting down in the chair Koizumi just vacated. I give her answers a quick review... well, most of these look pretty consistent, actually.

"Looks like you'd like to become a little more confident?" I start off. I'm actually kind of surprised she filled out something for herself.

"Um, yes," Mikuru replies. "I feel like I... I'm not really as much help as I'd like to be, so I'd like to become more of a person that can step up and help if it's needed."

"That's a good aspiration! As your brigade chief, I'll do everything I can to help you meet it in this coming year!" It actually is pretty good, too - it's more initiative than I would have expected from Mikuru, since she's usually so timid about everything.

One slight problem, though. "You didn't put down anything for Koizumi?"

Mikuru turns her gaze away from me to the table. "I... well, I can't really say I know Koizumi-kun very well, so I couldn't think of much to say about him either way, I'm sorry. I don't see him much outside of Brigade activities."

"Well, I can't say I'm happy about that, but if you don't really feel comfortable saying much about him, it's probably better not to say anything," I admit. And given the answers Koizumi just gave...

Yeah, if she's aware at all of what he thinks of her, I can't blame her for not wanting to say anything. I doubt my reviews are going to be a major point in history or anything, but if she's a time traveler, who knows what kind of resources she has? She could know what Koizumi's going to end up doing or something.

"Let's see then. For me... huh, you scratched out something here, what was it?" Why would she scratch something out- well, it's Mikuru, I can see her being nervous about saying something I might not like. "I did tell everyone to be honest even about me, so you can feel free to speak your mind!"

Mikuru clenches her hands in her skirt at that - God, she can be so cute sometimes, I swear I can see her trying to work up the courage to say- "Please let me know what you want me to do in advance!"

I'm taken a bit aback at that. "Huh? What do you mean?"

She looks up at me with watery eyes - hang on, Haruhi, the temptation to run over and glomp her is really huge, but you can be strong! "I don't mind d-doing things like dressing up for the Brigade, but I can do it myself! A-and, it would be... nice... if I could get some warning before I need to do things while I'm dressed up." She shrinks into herself a bit. "I promise I'll do my best, but I don't like not knowing what you're going to make me do!"

That's kind of out of nowhere... well, if she's a time traveler, surely she'd know most of the time what's going to happen next anyway, right? I guess if she doesn't have records of exactly what happened in the Brigade and they're trying to record it, she wouldn't know what's coming next, and if she's used to knowing anyway, I could see that freaking her out.

Plus, this is _Mikuru_ we're talking about - it doesn't take much to freak her out anyway.

"Alright, I suppose I can give you some idea of what I've got in mind," I say grudgingly. "Anything else about me?"

She just shakes her head, still clutching at her skirt.

"Okay then, Kyon next. You think he's reliable? How so?" Man, pretty much everyone's said the same things about Kyon. Guess he leaves a pretty good impression if everyone is really unusual and they're all finding the normal guy to be so solid.

"Kyon-kun's helped me a lot with-" Mikuru bites her tongue quickly. "With... some... assignments I've had to work on, outside the Brigade. I'd be in a lot of trouble if it wasn't for his help!"

"Is this about that date you went on with him back in February?" I can't help but be suspicious of that - she may not do it on purpose, but I don't like the way she can twist Kyon around her little finger and-

"Nononono! It wasn't a date, I promise! He was just helping me with some, some errands!" She stammers out in reply, starting to tear up again. "I wouldn't do anything like that behind your back, really!"

I scowl a bit at that as I consider. Well, if she was a time traveler, actually dating people could cause all kinds of trouble, I bet - what would happen if you ended up becoming one of your own ancestors? It'd be like dating your great-grandpa or something! Not that she'd necessarily be related to Kyon or anything, but I bet you'd have to watch out for that kind of thing.

And if she was doing some kind of mission from the future, maybe that's what Kyon was helping her with? She'd have to have taken him back to East Middle at some point, after all; maybe there was something she needed his help with there besides just meeting me or something.

"All right, I guess I can accept that," I say grumpily. "Anyway, Yuki's last - looks like you just have that she's dependable?"

"Yes, she's helped me out a couple of times with some very, um, difficult things! I don't know what I would have done without her." She nods vigorously to accentuate the point.

Are the aliens and time travelers working together or something? Neither of them seems to care much for the espers, at least, if these reviews are any indication.

"All right, that'll do - you're free to go home."

Mikuru lets out a little sigh of relief at that, then starts to pick up her bag. I can definitely see why Kyon and Yuki say she tries so hard, though - she was looking really nervous, especially when talking about me, but she did still come out and say what was on her mind.

Oh, what the hell - she had it as a goal, so the least I can do is help her build some of that confidence she wants. "Mikuru-chan!" I say sharply, just as she's putting her hand on the doorknob.

She looks back at me, startled. I stand up from behind my desk and give her a grin. "Just to let you know, your efforts with the Brigade have not gone unnoticed! Be proud of what you've accomplished this year!"

She looks more puzzled at that than anything, but nods anyway. "Um, thank you? I-I'll see you tomorrow, I guess." With that, she ducks out of the room.

Well, that takes care of all of the reviews. Might as well head for home myself - I should call Sakanaka and get my assignments, then try to turn in early tonight - it's been a long day.

Just as I'm stepping out of the clubroom, I notice that Yuki's still waiting out in the hallway - she turns to look at me just as I'm leaving. "Yuki-chan? You're still here?"

"You had not called for me yet," is the quiet girl's explanation.

"Well, I suppose that's true, but we already talked about your reviews of the others yesterday," I reply. She doesn't say anything to me, just looking back with that same expression she always wears.

I can feel butterflies forming in my stomach as I consider what I'm about to do - I'd definitely been considering it, but I hadn't really planned on doing it _today_ either - but, well, Yuki and I are both here alone, so now's as good a time as any.

"Come on inside, I did have another question for you if you don't mind."

Yuki just nods to that, and the two of us head back into the clubroom. After a moment's consideration, I decide to lock the door; if I'm going to spring the question on Yuki, I don't want anyone interrupting us.

When I turn around, Yuki's already taken up her seat in the corner, so I set down my bag by the door and sit down in my desk chair before turning in it to face her.

"So, um, Yuki... I've got something kind of weird to ask you," I start - my mouth is really dry right now. I'm either about to make myself look like a total idiot or meet... well, confirm that someone I know is... really an unusual person.

"Um... when you were helping me with the pictures yesterday, you must have seen the description I put down next to your name." I give a nervous chuckle. "I noticed you put one down for Kyon, too - I guess you were just joking around, huh?"

Yuki just looks back at me, that same expression not really giving away anything about what she's thinking. That's... not really helping me get this moving along any better, so I swallow and go on.

"So... I'm kind of surprised you didn't ask me about it, since I know you saw it - I mean, I had down there that you were an alien! Didn't you... I dunno, wonder why I wrote that down for you or anything?"

"No."

My hands are getting sweaty, so I smooth out my skirt a bit to wipe them off. She hasn't laughed me out of the room yet, so I might as well take the final plunge.

"So, then... Yuki-chan, are you really an alien?"

She just stares at me with that same unreadable look for what feels like an eternity, before she finally frames her reply:

"Yes."

* * *

><p>Author's Note: Apologies for the cliffhanger (I think? It's not a huge one, at least). Thanks to everyone that's reviewed so far, glad you're enjoying the story!<br>The next chapter will probably be delayed for at least a week; with the release of Ten Desires (Touhou 13) this evening, I'll be pretty busy with other projects related to that for a little while. This isn't getting abandoned, though, just set aside for a bit.

As always, a big thanks to Brian Randall for his comments and critiques. =) Not _all_ of your reviews have fallen on deaf ears.


	4. Chapter 4

Under Review

A fanfiction of Suzumiya Haruhi

The characters depicted herein are solely the creation of Nagaru Tanigawa; I'm just borrowing the keys to the car for a while.

* * *

><p>I just stare at Yuki for a long moment - I honestly couldn't believe I'd just heard her <em>admit<em> to being an alien.

"You're... are you serious? You really are an alien?" I finally manage to get out.

"Yes." Still that same, almost-but-not-quite blank expression.

I choke out a half-laugh. "Ha... ahaha..." I can't even form a coherent sentence at the moment. Yuki is either playing the best joke I can imagine, or I'm sitting face to face with an alien. And while this kind of thing isn't something I'd put past Yuki's odd sense of humor, I get the feeling she's being absolutely serious here.

It takes me a minute to get my composure back. "O... okay, right. So if you're an alien, where do you come from? And what are you doing here?"

"I will explain."

And with that, she did - I have _never_ heard Yuki say so much at one time in the year since I've met her, not even once. It was like a literal flood of information; between being shaken up by the confirmation and the torrent of technobabble I'm sure I missed a ton of details, but the essence of it seems to be that Yuki's some kind of 'contact interface' for what sounds like some kind of hive mind that exists outside our dimension.

If she's making this up, she should become a science-fiction writer, for sure - this is way more elaborate than anything I would have imagined!

As she concludes, it turns out that she and others like her were sent here to Earth to observe, in the hopes of finding 'data' that would help the hive mind evolve.

I'm... well, I'm completely floored by all of this. That Yuki might pull my leg by admitting to be an alien with a straight face - sure, I could kind of see that. But all this explanation - about Integrated Data Sentience Entities and autoevolution - this is almost too _much_ to be some kind of joke.

"That's... I'm not even sure what to say to all that," I admit, sitting back in my chair and staring at Yuki.

She looks up at me, not saying anything in return... well, I guess I didn't really ask her anything, either. There is one question that's kind of important, though.

"Did you tell all of this to Kyon?"

"Yes."

I blow out a breath at that. Well, it certainly would lend some credence to the John Smith theory. "What did he think of all of this when you told him?"

"He did not believe me," she replies, her voice as even as always - no frustration or anything like that.

I can't help but give a short laugh at that. "Somehow, that doesn't surprise me. _I'm_ still not sure I should believe you... but there's been some evidence that maybe I should, too. Does he believe you now?"

"Yes," Yuki answers with a nod for emphasis this time.

"What changed his mind, then?" Kyon's pretty skeptical most of the time - I imagine she'd have to have given some pretty convincing proof to have broken him out of it.

"I intervened to prevent his death at the hands of Asakura Ryouko," Yuki says smoothly. Well, I guess something like that would be pretty convinc-

"Wait, WHAT?" I sit bolt upright in my chair at that.

"I intervened-"

I cut her off quickly. "No, I heard what you said, but - what the hell? Our former class rep was trying to _kill_ Kyon? Why would she do something like that?"

"She was another contact interface like myself. It was her belief that killing him would result in data creation that relates to what we were sent to observe." Throughout all of this, Yuki's expression _still_ hasn't changed one iota - and she's talking about Kyon being nearly _killed!_ And she calls him her friend - doesn't that...

Wait, that's actually a good question. "You're... you're talking about Kyon being killed! How can you not be upset about this? Unless you just see this as a really elaborate joke, in which case this is going way too far!"

"It is not an attempt at humor," Yuki replies evenly. "In retrospect I am disturbed at the risk to his safety, but ultimately he was unharmed by the attempt."

"You... he..." I splutter. "You weren't kidding about that expressing yourself thing! I'd be completely freaked out if someone tried to kill Kyon!"

Yuki says nothing to that, still looking back at me. I try to calm down a bit; I'm definitely convinced now that this isn't a joke, even if what she's saying is almost completely unbelievable. "So... what exactly happened? How'd she try to kill him, and how did you stop her?"

"She placed a note in his shoe locker to summon him to your classroom after clubs were dismissed," she explains. "When he arrived, she sealed him in her data jurisdiction space to prevent his resistance and attempted to stab him. I was able to break into her data space and delete her interface before she could harm him."

I rub my chin as I mull that over for a minute. "So... you killed her before she could kill him?" I feel a bit queasy at that - even if it was to save Kyon's life, the idea of having someone killed...

"She was not terminated," Yuki clarifies. "Her interface was deleted, and she was returned to the Integrated Data Sentience Entity."

That sounds a _little_ better, at least; I suppose if her body - her 'interface' - is some kind of shell that Yuki's race uses to interact with us, it sounds like her body is... maybe like a set of clothes or something.

I did notice one other thing in there, though. "She could prevent him from resisting? Is your... are you that much stronger than a human is?" She sure doesn't _look_ all that strong, but looks aren't everything, either.

"If necessary," Yuki replies. "Manipulation of data can alter attributes of the physical plane. This functionality was used by Asakura Ryouko to keep him immobile for her attack."

"Alter... you mean you can change reality?" Now _that_ sounds completely awesome! "Is it something you could show me?"

Yuki pauses for a moment, then nods. She reaches into her bag and withdraws a pen, holding it on her open palm. Suddenly, she starts talking in some kind of high-speed gibberish - I glance up in surprise and see that her lips are almost a blur, they're moving so fast - and then just as suddenly, she goes silent.

I blink at the sudden halt, then look down at her hand again - she was doing something with that pen, I guess. And I definitely don't have to guess now - she's got a huge combat knife in it! Well, more on it than in it - she's just holding it on her open palm, which makes me feel a _little_ better about it.

"That's... uh... why a knife, Yuki-chan?" I ask a bit nervously, edging back just a little. I... trust Yuki, but still - having a huge knife appear out of nowhere is a little worrying!

"The topic of our previous discussion was Asakura Ryouko," Yuki says evenly. "This is the type of weapon that she used during her attack on him." She looks at me for a moment longer, then: "You may examine it if you wish."

Gingerly, I take the knife from her hand - it's a lot heavier than I would have expected. The blade is huge - it looks like something I'd imagine a soldier would carry, not a schoolgirl. "And you're telling me that Asakura used this to attack Kyon?"

Yuki just nods at that. I tap the side of the blade against my palm a couple of times as I remember Asakura - she was definitely on the 'too' side of cheerful all the time, so trying to imagine her coming after Kyon with a freaking gigantic combat knife like this is...

Well, I can't say I can't imagine it. But the picture of her with that cheery grin on her face, coming at me with a knife... I shudder a bit. "If that's true, I guess that explains a lot about why he was so uninterested in finding out what happened to her," I mumble.

Almost as an afterthought, I hand the knife back to Yuki. "Here, get rid of it - I definitely don't need to hold onto something like this, and I doubt you do either."

She nods, doing her rapid-fire incantation again. This time I watch the knife - it glows and flashes through a ton of different shapes before finally settling back on a pen. "Yes," she adds after the transformation is complete. "It evokes... unpleasant memories."

I take a deep breath and hold it for a few seconds before blowing it out and looking at Yuki. "So... uh." Sensing that I'm not going to get much of anywhere with this, I shake my head before continuing. "Why haven't you said anything before now? You _know_ I set up the Brigade in the first place to find people like aliens! Why is this only coming out now?"

"This is the time when you would believe it," Yuki says in return... and I feel my heart lurch. She's... absolutely right, isn't she? She's not done, though. "I am aware that he previously told you of my identity. As I told him when he was initially informed of my nature and role, you did not believe him at that time."

"You... you know about that?"

Again, I just get a single nod in reply. I suppose it makes sense, really; if she was sent here to observe, she's probably noticed a lot of things that I wouldn't think she had. That said, though, if Mikuru and Koizumi are what Kyon said they are, she'd almost _have_ to know - they might even be the reason why she's here!

"Um, Yuki-chan... so, if you've been observing the Brigade, do you know about Mikuru and Koizumi? If you know Kyon told me about you, you have to know he said that Mikuru's a time traveler and Koizumi's an esper, right?"

Another nod at that.

"So they really are? What do you know about them?" I can't keep the excitement out of my voice.

"I cannot provide information regarding Asahina Mikuru and Koizumi Itsuki at this time," is Yuki's answer. Dammit! I was _this close_ to having the whole thing, too!

"Why not?" I demand.

"I have not been authorized to release information regarding them," she says. "At this time, I am able to provide information only about myself."

Rrrrrggh... I grit my teeth at that, then look up at Yuki. Behind that normally cold stare, I can see a flicker of something unusual - is she amused at this? "It's not very funny, Yuki-chan!"

She doesn't answer that, but that sparkle in her eyes doesn't leave, either. "I believe you have sufficient resources to make a determination regarding Asahina Mikuru and Koizumi Itsuki without my assistance."

The vote of confidence is nice at least, and... I guess it'll be more interesting to try to nail those two down myself anyway. "All right, I guess," I grump out. "What about you, though? What are you going to do now that I know about you?"

The brightness in her eyes fades a little, but not entirely. "I will continue to observe, unless directed to do otherwise. I will also continue to protect him from harm, should the necessity arise."

She never calls Kyon by his nickname, does she? I feel a little pang as I ask, "So... if you're protecting Kyon, does that mean you... like him?"

Surprisingly, that one seems to stump her. It takes her several seconds before she responds, "I am aware that there may be romantic overtones to your question; however, I am uncertain to what degree these are present. He is my friend; I wish to ensure his safety."

I feel like my face must be a fair imitation of a beet right now; while... I... _might_ have been thinking about it like that, to come out and say it so plainly is... gah! I try to wave away the question as I respond. "Yuki! That's not what I- I didn't mean-"

I take a deep breath and try to get my composure back. "I guess... yeah, that is part of it," I manage to admit. "Are you romantically interested in Kyon? Do you want to go out with him?"

"I would not be averse to such a change in our relationship," Yuki responds. "However, to this point he has indicated no desire to make such a change. For myself, the current state of affairs is satisfactory."

I feel a lot calmer at that admission; it... shouldn't really bother me if Kyon wants to date someone, but it does for some reason. I guess I think he'll miss out on more amazing things if he ends up getting distracted by romance with someone else.

Although I have to admit, dating an alien would be pretty amazing on its own!

"All right," I mumble. "I guess... you can't really help me in finding out about the others, then, huh?" Not waiting for the denial, I continue on. "If that's so, then... at least promise me you won't tell any of the others that I'm trying to find out about them!" I shake my finger at Yuki to emphasize the point.

"This is acceptable," Yuki says, that glimmer back in her eye again - I think she's having fun with this! Well, I suppose if she knows about the others it might be fun to watch them get hunted down. "I will also continue to follow your directives in regards to Brigade activities."

"You'd better!" I huff. "But... thanks for being honest with me about this, Yuki."

"It is no problem," the purple-haired girl replies. "You are... also a friend."

That's... actually kind of nice to hear. I have a feeling that's not something Yuki says lightly.

* * *

><p>I actually get home a little earlier than usual; the interviews didn't take too long, and talking with Yuki still didn't take up as much time as a regular Brigade meeting does. Even with the early arrival at home, though, I feel completely exhausted. Between the lack of sleep and getting over the shock of talking to Yuki, I just want to flop down on my bed and zone out for the rest of the night.<p>

Schoolwork isn't so forgiving, though - oh dammit, that's right, I didn't get the assignments today. After I head up to my room, I pull out my cell and call Sakanaka; ever since we helped out J.J. in the spring, we've tried to keep in touch a bit more often outside classes.

"Hello? Suzumiya-san?"

"Hey, Sakanaka-san - sorry to disturb you. How are things going with you and J.J.?" I flop down on my bed at that, stretching my legs out straight.

"Oh, he's been doing wonderfully ever since your help!" Sakanaka replies. "You really should come over to visit sometime!"

"I keep meaning to, but I've been kind of bad about getting distracted with other things," I admit with a half-laugh. Yeah, like finding out that one of my club members is an alien. "I hate to impose, but I didn't sleep too well last night and kinda zoned out in class today - could I get today's homework assignment from you?"

"Sure, it's no trouble at all!" comes the cheerful reply. I dig a notebook out of my bag and dutifully write down the work we're expected to cover - nothing too much, I think I'm ahead on most of this anyway.

"Thanks a ton, Sakanaka-san - you're a lifesaver!"

"It's nothing," she answers. "Sorry to hear you didn't sleep well, though - is something worrying you?"

"I-" I bite my tongue, then consider for a moment. Maybe she _can_ help me with the others. "Well... to be honest, I'm kind of worried about one of the Brigade members. You remember Koizumi, right?"

"Oh, yes! Is he in some kind of trouble?"

"Well, that's kind of the thing - I don't exactly _know_ if he is. He's been acting... a little odd, lately, and I was worried that there's something going on with him outside school. I don't really know how to ask him about it directly, though."

"That's no good!" Sakanaka says. "Any idea what it might be?"

"Not really," I sigh a bit. "I kind of want to follow him, but there are some, uh, concerns about doing it myself - I'm sure he'd recognize me, and that could cause all kinds of questions I don't want to deal with."

"Hmmm... well, if it's worrying you that much, maybe I could keep an eye on him for you?" Sakanaka offers. It's nice when a setup works - not that I really want to trick her into following Koizumi, but if he's stalking me I'm sure he'd notice it, and I don't want to freak Sakanaka out by telling her I think I might have a stalker. With the way he acted in the interview today, I'm definitely concerned about the way he was sucking up!

"I hate to ask, but if it's not too much trouble, could you?" I ask, sounding relieved. Well, really, I am in a way - it lets me focus more on Mikuru, who should be an easier nut to crack. "I don't really want to snoop too much, but it'd be nice to know where he goes after school, especially if it's anywhere unusual."

"No problem! It might even be kind of fun," she says with a smile in her voice. "I'll check with a couple of the other girls in the class to see if they can help out - make a spy mission out of it." She giggles. "Maybe we can even make a big mystery out of it for your club!"

"That's the spirit!" I grin. "Anyway, I'll owe you big time for this one, Sakanaka-san. Just give me a call if you see him doing anything that seems unusual."

"I will! Take care, Suzumiya-san - I hope you sleep better tonight!"

"I think I will," I answer before hanging up the phone.

* * *

><p>The next day in class, my head is still buzzing with the implications of Yuki's revelation. It's hard to believe that I've spent almost a full year with a real alien in my brigade, and I didn't even have the slightest clue until earlier this week!<p>

It does make a weird sort of sense, though, if she's some kind of alien observer. Sitting in the background, staying out of the way unless she's pulled into something... well, it fits her personality pretty well. Is that part of her personality or her mission, though?

I should probably try to get her involved more, now that I think about it. Maybe she _was_ just sent to watch, but it can't be fun just to sit back and watch everyone else all the time. Even if she needs to stay focused on what she's here for, surely it can't hurt that much to take a break from it every now and then. Regular day-to-day life can be pretty boring, after all - it's why I formed the Brigade in the first place! Well, maybe originally it was more so that _I_ could have fun with aliens and everything else, but there's no reason why they shouldn't be having fun at the same time, too.

I do wonder, though, what exactly the 'data' is she's supposed to be observing? She didn't really give much detail about that, and I get the feeling she wouldn't even if I pressed her on it.

Maybe it has something to do with Kyon? She does seem pretty... attached to him, even if not in the dating sense, and she apparently told him that she was an alien way before now - almost a year ago, if Asakura was still around to... attack Kyon.

That's... a really disturbing thought. If Kyon had been murdered... I don't know what I'd do if something like that happened. I don't really want to think about the possibility, either.

"What's on your mind?" And just like that, his voice breaks through my reverie. I look up to see him giving me a slight frown.

"It's... nothing," I hedge. "Just thinking about some of what I've found for the reviews."

"If you're sure," he replies dubiously. Can he really see through me that easily?

I hesitate for a moment before trying to reply. "Say, Kyon, I..." I halt there.

What exactly am I going to say here? 'I'm glad you weren't killed'? If I say it, he'll have to know I know about Yuki - after all, she said he didn't believe her until that happened.

He's just sitting there with one eyebrow quirked, waiting for me to finish. No, this isn't the right time or place - there are too many people around, and not enough time to really talk about any of this.

I just shake my head and mumble my reply. "It's... Never mind, I'll talk to you about it later."

He just looks at me for a minute longer, then sighs and turns back to his own books.

I'll have to be careful about giving too much away to him before I'm ready; I do my best to school my expression as the next teacher starts his lecture.

* * *

><p>After classes, I wait for Kyon to pack up his stuff again; I'm not in any hurry to get to the clubroom today - it's mostly going to be trying to come up with ways to get some background info on Mikuru. And given Koizumi yesterday... let's say I want to keep an eye on him and Kyon.<p>

Kyon seems slightly bemused at the fact that I haven't already rushed off, but he's not pushing me about it for whatever reason, and for today I'm not rushing him along either. I'm keeping quiet for the most part, though; I still don't completely trust myself not to blurt out the whole story if I don't have anything else to say.

It's kind of weird; I never used to worry about keeping secrets. Back in middle school... well, there wasn't really anyone I cared about sharing secrets _with_. Now, though... well, the idea of telling Kyon that I know one of _his_ secrets, and he's a part of one of mine... it's like a giant fountain that keeps trying to bubble up and burst out, and I have to keep it capped or I'm just going to go out and start shouting it on the roof or something.

It turns out to be a good thing I didn't rush ahead, though - just like yesterday, Koizumi's waiting outside the classroom when we leave. I just give him a skeptical look; he shrugs and falls in step with me and Kyon as we all head to the old building and the clubroom.

The silence is almost kind of weird; I keep glancing over at Koizumi and Kyon. Kyon himself seems fairly oblivious; he's just walking along for the most part, although I catch him looking over at me once. I break away from his gaze pretty quickly when that happens, though.

Koizumi, for his part, seems to be splitting his attention between both of us; he's walking a bit behind me and Kyon, and when I glance back he's either looking at Kyon or looks away from me quickly, almost like he's worried. The more I see it, the more I wonder: just what in the world is he trying to talk to Kyon about so urgently that I can't hear about?

Well, he's not going to be bothering Kyon today, at least. I've got something in mind that should keep Kyon busy for the entire meeting, and probably a bit of tomorrow too.

I kick open the door to the clubroom as usual on arriving; apparently she's either running late or I got Kyon moving faster than usual, since she's still just standing next to the costume rack.

"Don't worry about changing today, Mikuru-chan!" I announce. If I'm running interference to keep Koizumi away from Kyon, having the two of them go out in the hallway while Mikuru changes kind of defeats the whole purpose.

"O-okay," Mikuru says, putting the maid costume back on the rack. "I'll just get the tea started, then."

Kyon and Koizumi have both filed into the room at this point; Koizumi's digging one of the board games off the shelf while Kyon flops down in his usual seat at the table. That's not going to stand, at least.

"Kyon!" I bark out at him. "You have a specific assignment today, so heads up! I still need to go back over the movie for everyone's reviews, but the master copy of it's gone! You need to re-edit it from all the raw footage since the original's been lost."

That elicits a groan from Kyon. "Are you sure you can't find the original?"

"Yes, I'm sure!" I snap back. "Besides, I want a 'director's cut' edition of it anyway, and you should have learned enough from editing it the first time to make it twice as awesome!"

"Of course," he replies with his ever-present grimace. "Just because it took all night the first time, it should be no problem now."

"Well, get to it then!" I point to the computer. "The sooner you get to work on it, the sooner you'll get done!" Seriously, if he spent half the energy on doing stuff as he spent complaining...

You'll thank me for this when I'm done, Kyon!

Koizumi's paused by the shelf with all the games; guess he's not sure what to do if Kyon's going to be busy.

Oh, what the hell. "Dig something out, Koizumi, I'll play you today."

Koizumi does a double take at that. "A... are you sure, Suzumiya-san? I thought you weren't interested in board games?"

"Eh, it's not like I can do much of anything else until Kyon's done with the movie editing - all the footage is on the computer, after all." I cross my arms and nod at him. "Go ahead and pick something, I don't really care what it is."

"Uh... very well," Koizumi replies, pulling the chess set down off the shelf. Hmm, I haven't played chess in a while, I'll have to see how rusty I am.

The first game proceeds slowly. Koizumi takes a long time to make his moves, and plays really defensively - by the end of the game I'm spending more time chasing his king across the board trying to pin it down than anything else. Eventually I manage to promote a pawn and use it to checkmate him, though.

"Not bad, I guess I haven't completely lost my touch," I reply, sounding satisfied. Koizumi settles back, looking strangely satisfied with the outcome given the fact that he's lost. "Hmmm, another game?"

"I suppose that's no trouble," Koizumi replies easily. Good, then let's see how he handles this!

"Great - in that case, we'll play this round timed, thirty seconds per move," I say with a grin. This chess set doesn't include a clock, but... "Yuki-chan, you can act as our timer, right?" Given her background, that should give her absolutely no trouble at all.

"Yes," comes the quiet reply, followed by the slight scrape of her chair as she moves over to sit next to the table where she can see the board.

"Um... certainly, why not?" Koizumi says, sounding a bit uncertain.

"I'll let you take white," I offer.

"That's not necessary, we can simply draw-"

"No, I insist - take white!" I smirk a bit. Maybe this will give me a feel for how Koizumi reacts to pressure, since he's been looking kind of agitated since yesterday. I'm pretty sure I can beat him easily, so giving him the first move advantage shouldn't be a problem.

"Very well," he says, setting up his pieces.

The second game starts out pretty much like the first one, although it doesn't take long for Koizumi to start sweating. Unlike the first game, though, I completely shred him - without the time to think about his moves for a while, he starts making some serious mistakes. I'm no expert chessmaster or anything, but I at least know enough to take advantage of those when I see them.

At the end of the game, I sit back with a smirk. Keeping Koizumi off balance made a _huge_ difference; we'll have to see how much I can keep him off balance while I investigate, then!

"How's the editing coming, Kyon?" I look over at the computer.

He doesn't look like he's slacking off or surfing the web, at least. "It's coming," he mutters. "Honestly, wouldn't it just be easier to have us help you look for the original copy?"

"Oh, stop complaining!" I shoot back. "The practice is good for you - you'll be able to knock out the editing in nothing flat when we shoot this year's movie!"

"There's motivation for you," he replies dryly... but he does keep working.

I stretch a bit in my chair, then check the time; clubs are just about to let out, so... "All right, everyone's dismissed except for Kyon! Kyon, I'm checking on your progress before I let you go." Gives time for Koizumi to clear out as well - hopefully Sakanaka can catch him outside.

The others clatter around for a few minutes (except for Yuki) before making their departure; Koizumi steals a couple of glances at Kyon before he sighs and leaves, pulling out his cell phone to check messages as the door closes behind him. I take a minute to pack up the chess set, then head over to the computer to see how Kyon's doing.

He starts to stand up as I arrive, but I just push him back down into the chair and lean over his shoulder to see. I'm only looking, after all, not taking over. I skim through the video editing software and the scenes he's put together so far, and I have to say I'm fairly pleased with the progress - the movie looks like it's about three-quarters done at this point.

"Looks good, Kyon!" I say, straightening up. "You should be able to finish it up before the end of the club meeting tomorrow!"

"Hooray," he deadpans. "Well, at least it's not as much of a struggle this time, I'll admit. Last time I wasn't even sure where to _start_."

"See, I told you more practice would make it easier!" I grin a bit at that.

"I'm indebted to your wisdom, Brigade Chief," he says evenly, smirking a bit as he packs up his things. "Anyway, was that all you needed, or can I head home now?"

I... did I want to say it now? I mean, I had evidence now, after all; Yuki definitely proved she was an alien, or at least that she has strange powers. I'm definitely seeing something strange about Koizumi, even if I can't prove what it is yet. Should I just... ask him for the rest? I feel like I'm on the razor's edge, able to tip one way or-

The rattle of the clubroom's doorknob breaks my reverie. I look up, started, to see Kyon looking back at me from the doorway with a mildly concerned expression. "Something on your mind, Haruhi?"

I can feel a blush forming at that, so I quickly turn away to face out the window. "It's... Kyon, are you..."

I take a deep breath, then let it out... and my resolve, unfortunately, goes with it. "Are you... happy with the brigade?" Way to take the chicken option there, Suzumiya. "I've... been doing all these reviews, and it occurred to me that nothing we've done all year has really helped us find unusual people."

_Find_ them, no - apparently they've been here all along! But I can't... bring myself to say it, not quite yet.

"Is _that _what's got you so jumpy?" Kyon says, sighing a bit. "Haruhi, don't worry about it - the Brigade is fine. Maybe you haven't been able to find time travelers or sliders, but even without that, it's been a fun year - or at least I think so, anyway."

I make a non-committal grunt in reply; I'll admit that it's still been a pretty enjoyable year, and even if _I_ didn't find the people I was looking for, _he_ certainly seems to have done so.

"If you're worried about it, I wouldn't," Kyon says from behind me. "Even without that, I've gotten to make some good friends this year, and even... eh, I'll admit it's been a little troublesome at times, but I wouldn't trade it away. And, honestly, it's thanks to you - the Brigade wouldn't be what it is without you, Haruhi."

Oh lord - my face feels like it's on _fire_ after that. "Thanks," I manage to mumble.

"Don't let it get you down," he concludes. "I'll see you tomorrow, Haruhi."

That does it, I'm not going to wait any longer! "Kyon, wait-"

Too slow. The click of the doorknob cuts me off in mid-word. "Dammit!"

Now I _am_ in a foul mood - I just blew a perfect chance to seriously talk to Kyon about everything I've found.

* * *

><p>I'm troubled by dark thoughts most of the way home; it really feels like I just threw away a perfect opportunity to actually ask Kyon about John Smith. It's not like I couldn't call him and talk to him about it, but... well, something that important really doesn't seem like it should be done over the phone - I want to talk to him about it face-to-face.<p>

I don't really want to face dinner at home in a mood like this, so I pick up some curry bread from a convenience store as I walk back.

As usual, homework's quickly defeated, and I'll admit the distraction makes me feel better. I decide to push aside the tangled mess in my head that is John Smith and Kyon; Koizumi's being checked out, and I've gotten Yuki's confirmation, so if I'm going to continue investigating there's just one target left.

Information gathering should be the first thing I try here, and for Mikuru there's one obvious place to go for it. Picking up my cell phone, I pull up Tsuruya in my contact list and call.

"Hiyas, Haru-nyan!" comes the cheery upperclassman's greeting, and I can feel my spirits lift a little just from the sound of her voice - I've always found Tsuruya's enthusiasm to be infectious, and that cheerfulness is definitely something I could use right now.

"Hey, Tsuruya-san," I answer. "Hope I'm not disturbing you or anything - just wanted to see if you had a few minutes to talk."

"It's no trouble~!" she chirps back. "What's on your mind, nyoro?"

"Nothing too major - I don't know if Mikuru-chan told you, but I've been working on reviews for the Brigade, so I was wondering if I could get your impressions of Mikuru! I don't really know that much about her outside of school and the brigade, but I know you guys are friends, so I was hoping you could tell me more about her."

"Sure, sure! I don't knows what you have for her already, but Mikuru-chan always tries megas hard at everything! Even easy and simple stuff - sometimes you'll see her tongue sticking out a little when she's really concentrating hard!" Tsuruya guffaws.

I've never seen _that_, but with this being Mikuru we're talking about? Completely believable, and it just adds to her moe factor even more! The description really lines up with Yuki and Kyon's reviews, too, so that sounds legitimate.

"Hmm, thanks! Just out of curiosity, has she told you much about herself? I've never really asked her, but what's her family like?"

"Her family? Wahahahahahahah~!" That sends Tsuruya into an absolutely riotous gale of laughter, way more than I'd have expected from just asking about someone's family. Then again, it doesn't take much with Tsuruya - she could probably find smoked cheese funny.

"Sorries, sorries! I've only met Mikuru-chan's family once - her twin sister!" Tsuruya giggles. "It would be... let's see, back in February, just before Valentine's Day and the treasure hunt we had over here!"

"She has a twin-" I gasp, then realize what I'm hearing. "- sister, huh?"

"Yeah, yeah! Her name's Michiru - Kyon-kun brought her over and asked if she could stay here for a few days, nyoro! It was funny - she said she wanted to surprise Mikuru so I wasn't supposed to let anyone know that she was visiting!"

Reeeeally. "What was she like? Did you talk to her much?"

"Not too much, really. She had lots of business with Kyon-kun that week, so I didn't get to talks to her very often. She seemed really really a lot like Mikuru-chan, though!"

"That's... really interesting, Tsuruya-san - I'll definitely have to ask Mikuru-chan more about her! Thanks for filling me in!" I'm grinning like a Cheshire cat... this is just too perfect.

"No problem! If you do, ask her for me if she ever got to meet her sister - I never did find out how the surprise went."

"You bet - I'll let you know what I find out. Thanks again, Tsuruya-san! I'll talk to you later!"

"Okies, have fun! Catch you later!"

With that, I snap my phone closed and toss it up into the air.

You're mine, Mikuru-chan. Or should I say, Miss Time Traveler?


	5. Chapter 5

Under Review

A fanfiction of Suzumiya Haruhi

The characters depicted herein are solely the creation of Nagaru Tanigawa; I'm just borrowing the keys to the car for a while.

* * *

><p>Restless. Bored, irritated, agitated, impatient.<p>

Pick any one of these - hell, pick all of them - and it'd be a pretty fair description of my mood right now. I don't even try to keep the scowl off my face as I stare at Kyon's back.

It figures that on the day where I've got a ton of exciting stuff to do _after_ class, the class itself is nothing but boring, dry lectures on stuff I already know. I can't even nap - I'm too wound up about everything to relax enough for it!

Kyon seems to have picked up on my mood, though; other than a cautious look back at me during the first class break, he hasn't really tried to talk to me much today. Which is fine, really - at this point, I want to get Koizumi and Mikuru squared away, then pin him down in the clubroom with everyone there to admit that I figured it all out on my own!

For now, though, that's not really much of a possibility. Mikuru's as good as caught already; I've got enough evidence to nail her down completely. Tsuruya didn't give me exact dates, but right before Valentine's is about when Kyon gave me that 'prank call' about Mikuru being kidnapped, too.

Why would she try to hide it from... well, herself, though? Doesn't really make sense - it's not like she needs to keep the fact that she's a time traveler from _herself_ after all! And Kyon seemed to know there were two of her, too - otherwise I imagine he'd have tried to take Mikuru back home, rather than having her stay at Tsuruya's place.

Maybe there's some kind of danger of them getting mixed up or something? Wait, no - that wouldn't work. At least one of them would have to remember going through that period of time once before - either because she came from the past and went through it early, or came back from the future after she'd already gone through it once. The one who'd been through everything before would know if she was in the wrong place since she'd be doing the same things she did before... except then she wouldn't because she never went through that part because her time-traveling self took her place, so she'd do different things instead.

Ugh - now I'm getting a headache, which is just what I needed on top of this mood.

The weather seems to be turning to match, too; it's clouding over with a few rumbles of thunder outside, although it's still dry at the moment. It's kind of weird, but the weather usually does seem to line up with how I'm feeling, although it's probably more that certain kinds of weather make me more inclined to be in a particular mood. Gray, cloudy days don't exactly inspire me to go running around outside screaming at the top of my lungs, and it's hard to be depressed when it's bright and sunny and everyone's cheerful.

Thoughts like this - except the time travel stuff, I'm going to avoid that until I can make Mikuru explain it to me - occupy my head until the lunch chime finally rings. Before Kyon can react, I bolt out of my chair and tap Sakanaka on the shoulder as I head out of the room; I'll need to hit the cafeteria for lunch anyway, and she can fill me in on whether she found out anything about Koizumi last night.

She looks up, half surprised, but then nods and grabs her bento box before following me out of the room. As usual, I manage to beat the crush at the cafeteria and claim some melon bread, and we head up to the roof to eat - with the weather like this, it's not too likely anyone else is going to come up here and disturb us. It's not as bad as it looked earlier, though; the sun's struggling to break through the clouds in a few spots.

"So, did you find anything?" It's hard to conceal the excitement in my voice, but it trails off when I notice that Sakanaka won't meet my eyes.

"Um... I did follow Koizumi-san like you asked," she starts hesitantly. "After clubs let out yesterday, he took the train down to Kitaguchi Station."

"And?" I wilt a little... the expression on her face isn't reassuring.

"He, um, went to a cafe and had dinner," Sakanaka says, still not meeting my eyes.

I decide to cut to the chase. "There's nothing weird about that, so... what is it that you aren't telling me?"

"There was, um, a woman that he met there for dinner. And... I'm pretty sure it wasn't a relative or anything."

"What did she look like?" I prompt.

"You're... you're not upset that he was meeting with an older woman?" Sakanaka asks, looking a bit surprised.

"No, why would I be?" I reply, nonplussed. Then it hits me: "Wait, you think he's _dating_ her?"

"Well, I, uh, it kind of looked like it," she answers in a tiny voice.

I take a bite out of my bread before replying. "Hmm... what did she look like?"

Sakanaka seems a little taken aback at that, for some reason. "Wait... you're not upset that he's dating someone?"

"No, why? Should I be?" I blink.

"Well, I thought the whole thing about following him was because you, um, wanted to find out if he was seeing someone before you asked him out?" Sakanaka ducks her head a bit at the admission.

For my part, I don't even try to hide the snort that emerges. "Ha, he might wish!" I shake my head a bit at that. "No, if anything I'm surprised he's dating a _woman_ - with the way he hangs all over Kyon, I was half convinced he was gay!"

"Oh!" she exclaims. "So is... well, no, you'd probably know if he was dating Kyon, I guess."

"Nah, I'm pretty sure Kyon doesn't swing that way," I reply offhandedly. "Given the way he watches Mikuru-chan in Brigade meetings I'd have a hard time believing he went for guys."

"So... are you interested in Kyon, then?" Sakanaka says, taking a bite from her own bento.

"I..." I can't help but blush faintly at that. _Am_ I interested in Kyon that way?

Well, maybe a little, I'll admit. But there's too much else going on to really think about that now.

"That's... eh, I'm not sure how to answer that right now," I hedge. "More importantly, though, what did the woman Koizumi met look like?"

"Oh - well, I did manage to get a picture of her on my phone," she offers. "Here, take a look."

With that, she pulls out her cell phone and flips through menus for a minute before handing it to me.

I _know_ this woman - she was the maid at the island we stayed at! What was her name... Mori, I think? She was there when we did the winter mystery, too.

"This... is actually really great, Sakanaka-san - thanks so much for your help!" I beam. "Would it be too much trouble to keep an eye on him still?"

"I... well, I suppose not for a little while longer. I managed get to some of the other girls to help out, so we can take turns if he goes out a lot," she confirms.

"Awesome! There's- wait, you got other people to help out?" I say, nonplussed.

"Well, Koizumi-san is kind of good-looking, you have to admit," Sakanaka replies meekly. "I mentioned it to some of the other girls in our class and... well, they just about volunteered for it."

"Huh," I muse. "I didn't think about that, I guess, but... anyway. There's one other person I'd say to watch out for in particular - an older man with a white mustache. Get a picture of him too, if you can." If the maid met with Koizumi, maybe the butler will too! I'm not sure I can describe Keiichi-san or Yutaka-san well enough to ask for a picture, though.

"Wait- an older man?" Sakanaka looks puzzled as she works her way through her lunch. "Why?"

"Just a hunch - I know who this woman is, and there are a few other people that I wouldn't be surprised to see. They helped Koizumi stage mysteries for the Brigade a couple of times."

"All right, I'll pass the word on the other girls," Sakanaka agrees.

"That's great - I really can't thank you enough for this, Sakanaka-san," I say, giving her a big smile. "I'll have to fill you in on the whole story later!" As if to accentuate my words, a gap in the clouds opens up for a minute, and we're sitting in warm sunlight.

"Sure, I'll be looking forward to it!" she beams in reply.

* * *

><p>The rest of lunch passes uneventfully, and small talk with Sakanaka over the rest of the melon bread at least keeps my mind off confronting Mikuru after the meeting today; the only problem is that lunch ends, so now I'm stuck back in the classroom grinding my teeth while I wait for the rest of the day to go by.<p>

If anything, the classwork during the second half of the day is even _less_ interesting, although I'm not quite sure how that's possible. Kyon isn't sleeping for once, but he's completely zoned out. The sun at lunchtime seems to have been a false alarm, since we're in the middle of a steady rain now. Kyon's just staring out the window at the storm, which finally let loose a little while after lunch ended. Means no PE outside today, which sucks; I could really stand the chance to burn off some energy. Now all I can do is wait for classes to end.

And, after what seems to be about a week, they finally do. Man - if Mikuru really is a time traveler, I'm going to make her explain how to make time pass faster, especially for days like this!

Just after classes end, I get a text message; Koizumi's bowing out of the meeting, apparently his 'part-time work' called and needs him to come in. Given how fishy his situation seems at the moment I'm not sure I buy that, but it does at least keep him out of my hair for the meeting today.

On the one hand it's good; I don't have to worry about keeping Kyon occupied. On the other hand, he's still not finished with the movie editing, and it'd look weird if I insisted he do it one day and then cancel it the next, so I'll have to let him finish it - which means more waiting until I can corner Mikuru.

Damn it!

Since Koizumi's not here, I don't bother waiting for Kyon today; he'll make it down to the clubroom on his own. When I arrive at the room, Mikuru's in the middle of changing, and as usual she yelps when the door bangs open. I make sure to close and lock it after I get in, though; Kyon doesn't need to walk in and see _that_, even if I'm sure he'd enjoy it.

Moving over to my desk, I fire up my computer, then I realize that Kyon's going to be on it today again for the editing.

"Crap," I complain. Mikuru looks a bit worried at that, but finishes getting the maid uniform on before going to unlock the door.

"Don't worry about tea for Koizumi today, Mikuru-chan," I tell her, just as Kyon comes into the room. "He texted me to say his part-time job called today, so he won't be making it to the meeting."

Kyon raises an eyebrow at that and glances over at Yuki, but the quiet girl has her nose in her book as always and doesn't even bother to look back up at him. With a shrug, he sets his bag down and takes his usual seat at the table... not good enough!

"Kyon!" I bark at him. "You're supposed to be finishing the director's cut today, so no slacking off!"

He heaves a sigh at that. "Right," he replies, shaking his head.

"You should be able to get it all done today, right?" I scowl at him... wait, maybe that old saying will work better here - catching more flies with honey than with vinegar or something. "It didn't look like there was that much left, so once it's done you can take the rest of the day off!"

It doesn't seem to change his attitude much that I can see, but he does settle down behind the computer to get started on it, at least. Of course, the only problem is that this leaves me with basically nothing to do until he's finished; I take his abandoned seat at the table and start looking around for something to occupy me.

Yuki's book catches my eye briefly - it's something called "Anathem", which looks like another one of those translated Western sci-fi novels that she's really into. I consider asking her for something to read, but decide against it. Assuming I even can even concentrate on it, I don't want to get tied up with another story - Mikuru is the focus today.

With the upperclassman in mind, my gaze wanders over to the costume rack. At this point, she's got quite a collection - maid's uniform (although her school uniform is on the rack in its place right now), nurse's uniform, Santa girl, bunny girl... even that stupid frog suit from that 'part-time work' that Koizumi found for us. Why did I even bother keeping that?

Well, it's as good a way to pass the time as anything else. I pull a sketchbook out of my bag and start to scribble down more costume ideas for both Mikuru and Yuki - I still haven't forgotten about the idea of having them switch roles, and maybe it'll be something Yuki might enjoy? Either way, there's no harm in jotting down ideas.

I'm pretty well into it when Kyon finally announces that he's done; I head over to the computer to take a look at the finished product.

After skimming through it on fast forward, I frown a bit. "Hmm, I'm not sure this is an improvement on the original," I remark.

"Well, I don't remember the original that well and we don't have it here for comparison," Kyon answers, shaking his head. "I did the best I could and tried to make it as close to the original as I could remember, but I didn't really have anything to go on."

It... doesn't look all that new and improved, but then it doesn't look _bad_, either. "All right, I suppose this will have to do," I grudgingly allow. "Go ahead and burn it off onto a disc, then you can head out. Yuki-chan, you too - I need to talk with Mikuru about her review alone for a little while."

I look around the room to get reactions; Mikuru, as expected, looks a bit worried. Kyon just shakes his head and starts burning the video, and Yuki sets her book aside. She catches my eye for just a minute, and that gleam is back - does she know what I'm about to do with Mikuru?

Well, maybe that's not surprising. She didn't say she didn't _know_ about Mikuru and Koizumi, just that she couldn't tell me about it. Well, that's fine - Mikuru's as good as caught already.

It takes a few minutes for Yuki and Kyon to clear the room, Mikuru looking at me nervously every so often as they do. Hmm, how can I make this a little more certain for me...

Heh, I know the trick. "You can go ahead and change first, Mikuru-chan," I reply offhandedly.

"A-alright," Mikuru says, looking slightly more relaxed. While she's undressing, I get up and lock the door, then sit back down at the table.

Just as she's hung the maid uniform back up - but before she's gotten her school uniform back on - I spring the question. "So, Mikuru-chan... _when_ exactly are you from?"

She freezes up at that, clad in nothing but her underwear, and gives me a shocked look. This should keep her from trying to run off, at least - not that she'd be likely to escape, but who knows what kinds of tricks she's brought back from her time?

"Um... I'm not sure exactly what you mean?" she says, but I can see she's starting to sweat a bit.

"There's no use trying to hide it, Mikuru-chan - I know you're a time traveler," I reply flatly.

She falls onto her backside at that, babbling incoherently for just a moment - then a dazed expression comes over her face and she seems to deflate completely. "I... yes, I come from another time," she finally says in a tiny voice. "How did you find out?"

"I'm not completely oblivious, you know," I scowl a bit. "Kyon let a couple of things slip, and Tsuruya filled in the last piece, so I know that you've traveled in time at least once - back in February, just before Valentine's Day. There were two of you around for a while back then, weren't there?"

The poor girl looks absolutely miserable slumped on the floor, so I decide to take some pity on her. "Go ahead and get dressed again, I'm not going to do anything to you as long as you're honest with me."

She just nods in reply, slowly going through the process of getting her school uniform back on.

Once she's done, I sit back with my arms crossed under my breasts, giving her a frown. "Go ahead and take a seat - you're not going to jump through time or anything to try to get away, are you?"

She does at least sit down, but she keeps her gaze on the table, so her face is shadowed - I can't really make out her expression very well. "No... I won't try to leave," she says, sounding a little hoarse.

"Oh, calm down!" I snap at her. "I'm not going to do anything to you, you don't need to act like this is the end of the world or something."

She just turns a teary gaze up to me in response, so I shake my head and go on - I can't be moved by moe today! "So, would you ever have told me the truth, that you were actually a time traveler - one of the _very people_ this brigade was founded to look for?"

"I... I couldn't," she sobs in reply. "I can't explain everything to you, but I literally can't do anything that goes against the orders I have from my own time! I wouldn't have tried to keep it a secret from you otherwise, I promise!"

I frown at that. "That sounds like a pretty lame excuse - you were _ordered_ to keep the fact that you're a time traveler secret?"

She just nods unhappily to that.

"So then why does Kyon know?" I fire back.

Mikuru wilts a bit in response. "I... received specific orders that I needed to tell him that I wasn't from this time," she says quietly. "I didn't understand why at first, but it turned out that I was going to need his help for some things later on."

"What kind of things?" I mutter suspiciously.

"I really can't say." Mikuru shakes her head, looking back down at her lap.

"That's not good enough! What did you need to get Kyon to help you with?" I demand, slapping my hands down on the table for emphasis.

She jumps at the sudden noise, looking panicked at my sudden burst of anger. Well, I've waited all day for this, and now _Mikuru_ of all people is stonewalling me?

"I'm really serious, I literally _can't_ tell you!" she babbles out. "If I try to say anything that haven't been given permission to, then classified information kicks in and..." she cuts off at that, looking vaguely irritated. "And then that happens," she concludes. "If I try to share any information that's not allowed, literally all I can say is 'classified information'. I could try to tell you, but odds are that most of it would be censored out anyway." With that, she slumps in her chair.

"Even if I tried to tell you exactly what I was doing with Kyon, probably half of it would just come out as 'classified information'. I swear, I'd tell you if I was able to, you have to believe me!"

That... is a little on the weird side. I decide to test it. "Show me, then. If you really can't tell me stuff that's supposed to be secret, then prove it! Tell me exactly how you time travel, and don't worry about the 'classified information' parts!"

"All right, I'll try it," Mikuru says unhappily. "I use a device called a TPDD, which stands for classified information. When we travel in time, we classified information in the classified information, which we can then project our classified information into. Because only a projection is present, we can't classified information, which is why information control is so important - only the information we provide to people from that time can be used to classified information."

That was... wow. "And you weren't just doing that to throw me off?" I raise an eyebrow.

"No, in my head that was the complete... well, the basic explanation for how time travel works. There are a lot more technical details involved, but I'm not the most knowledgeable person about the theory and I doubt I could get more than three words out before classified information kicked in anyway." She looks irritated again at that. "And I can't even tell you what makes that happen!" she grouses.

I have to stifle a smirk at that - it shouldn't be funny, but the switch in moods from Mikuru makes me want to laugh. "I'm guessing... that probably gets annoying after a while?" I offer.

"You have no idea," the redhead says, shaking her head.

I don't bother to hide the snicker at that. "All right, fair enough. What about if I tell you what I know, then? Can you tell me if I'm right?"

"That... should be all right," Mikuru says. "I'm not giving you any new information that way, after all."

"Then... the time I mentioned, right before Valentine's. You were time traveling then and Kyon was helping you, right?" I challenge her.

She just nods in reply, waiting for me to go on.

"Tsuruya said you had a 'twin sister' that Kyon asked her to put up for a few days, and he called me in a panic to say you'd been kidnapped - but we were making chocolates right then, so I figured it was just a stupid prank," I continue. "Kyon's never been huge for pranks or practical jokes, though, so the only way that could make sense is if there were two of you around at the same time."

"Yes," she reluctantly admits. "There were several orders I got around that time that I needed Kyon's help for, but I also couldn't get out of making chocolates all the time without making you suspicious - so I ended up going through the same week twice."

That makes sense, in a way, although there is one thing that bugs me still. "Tsuruya said that Kyon told her to keep your 'twin' a secret from everyone, even you - why bother with that? It's not like _you_ don't know you're a time traveler!"

She grimaces at that. "I don't know if I can explain that without classified information, but I'll try. Um, basically it has to do with memories - if there are two different versions of me at the same time that interact with each other, but they have different memories of what happened or how, it can, um, get very messy in a very bad way." She looks a little brighter at that.

"That makes you happy?" I ask, puzzled.

"Well, no, what would happen doesn't make me happy - it's about the worst thing that can happen to you as a time traveler. I'm more pleased that I could at least explain part of it without it being classified." She puts her hands in her lap, looking a little embarrassed.

I wave off the point. "Nice, but we're getting off the topic. You've... taken Kyon back into the past before too, haven't you?"

She looks a bit surprised at that, but does give me a nod.

Well, in a minute I'll know the answer to the big question, one way or the other. "Did you take him back to the night of Tanabata, almost four years ago now?"

"I- actually I did, you _know_ about that?" she says, sounding shocked. "_I_ don't even know what we were supposed to be doing there - all I know is that we arrived in a park, then I passed out for a while, and when I woke up we were at a school somewhere. I'm not even sure which one, only that it wasn't here."

I settle back in my chair, feeling... almost empty. That's the confirmation I was looking for, but... I don't even know what to think now. I certainly _wanted_ it to be true, did everything I could to try to prove it, one way or another, but on some level... I don't feel like I'm ready for this yet. Maybe I never would have been, though.

Kyon is John Smith - there's no doubt at all about it in my mind now.

Be that as it may, though, I'm still not done with Mikuru, and I haven't got time to work this all out now. Her confession there does bring up one other thing.

"So, you can not only time travel, but you can take other people with you?" I ask to confirm.

"Ah... I have to get approval to time travel at all - with or without other people - but yes, I can," Mikuru admits.

"Then I want you to take me to another time so I can see this for myself!" I challenge her. Yuki was able to prove her abilities, after all, so Mikuru should be able to do the same!

"What- I, I, I can't do that!" Mikuru stammers.

"Get your authorization or whatever you need - I won't take no for an answer!" I stand up, hands on my hips.

Mikuru sags at that. "I'll ask, but I can't promise anything - and if they say no, there's nothing I can do." With that, she puts her hand to the side of her head for a moment, her eyes going unfocused - wait, is she communicating with the future now? How does that even work, anyway?

Oh, right. 'Classified information', I'll bet. I just shake my head and look at Mikuru, waiting for her attention to come back from wherever it is.

After maybe half a minute her eyes refocus, leaving her looking perplexed. "I... they said yes, although there's a specific time we need to visit," she says, standing up herself.

"That's fine - the specific time doesn't matter to me, as long as I can make sure it's a different one from now!" Awesome - I'm about to travel in time!

Mikuru just nods absently, heading over to my desk and doing something with the computer - I can't make out exactly what at the moment though. Once she's done, she comes back to my side of the table, then nods as she places her hands on my shoulders. "All right - close your eyes, Suzumiya-san, the transition can be really disorienting if you're not used to it, and I don't think you want to get sick."

Bah, as if that could make me sick - but I close my eyes anyway. No sense in tempting fate. Just as I do, there's a stomach-twisting lurch-

The shock makes my eyes snap open. We're not in the clubroom anymore, but then we're not far away, either - this is the hallway just outside. It's dark outside right now, though - past that, I can't tell what time or day it is. My cell phone was in my bag, too, so I can't check it.

Just as I'm about to ask Mikuru when this is, she holds a finger up to her lips for silence before whispering to me. "This is the day before last year's cultural festival - it's about 3 am right now. According to my information, you and Kyon are asleep in the clubroom right now, and it's very important that you don't wake them."

I blink in surprise at that. "Can I take a look at them, at least?" I whisper back.

"Yes, we'll need to go in there anyway - just be very sure they stay asleep, unless you remember waking up and seeing the two of us wandering around," Mikuru cautions. "What I mentioned before about different memories applies to you now, too, since you're also traveling in time."

She didn't say what having different memories would _do_, though - although I'll admit, the implication was that it wasn't pleasant. It can't hurt to do as she says here, assuming I'm- my past self, I guess, is actually in there. Carefully, I reach out and open the door, moving slowly so the latch doesn't rattle.

What I see inside is... me. I can't see Kyon from here, but I can see myself, slumped over the table asleep. I enter the room on cat's feet, trying my best to make no noise at all.

It... really is me, isn't it? I've obviously never seen myself asleep, but that's the face that I see all the time in the mirror and in pictures. I have to resist a powerful urge to scribble something on her- well, I guess my face, but I don't remember that happening before the cultural festival, and given what Mikuru said it's probably best not to push my luck.

Other than that, though, this is definitely what I remember; out the windows, I can see that the trees have started losing leaves, and it's a little chilly in here - definitely colder than it's been at night recently.

I really am in another time, aren't I?

Mikuru waits outside for a minute, then follows me into the room; she's headed for the computer, where Kyon is. I notice that she's got something in her hand, although I'm not sure what it is - just that it's metallic looking. I move away from my past self and over towards the computer, looking at her suspiciously.

She doesn't try to answer, just holding a finger to her lips and then shaking her head. Hesitantly, she hits the disc tray button on the computer... and then reveals the object she was carrying to have been an optical disc, which she places in the tray carefully before pushing the button to close it.

I give her a questioning look at that, but she just points back out to the hallway in answer - guess there's too much risk of one of them waking up if we talk in here. I nod in response, then follow her out of the room before closing the door behind us.

"What was that all about?" I whisper, scowling a bit at Mikuru.

"I'm sorry, that was the other half of my orders," she replies meekly, grabbing the edge of her uniform skirt. "I don't know why - they just said to take the disc from the computer and put it back in the computer when we got here."

I frown a bit - why would that make any difference? All that was in the computer back in our regular time was the new copy of the movie that I made Kyon...

My gaze swings back around to the now-closed clubroom door. The movie that we had to stay up all night to get ready for the cultural festival. And yet it's now completely obvious that _Kyon_ didn't stay up all night to finish it... but we still had it ready the next day anyway.

That phony! He took all the credit for staying up to edit that, and it turns out we had to bring it here from the future for him to have it!

...although, in retrospect, he _did_ still do all the editing work, just not when either he or I thought he did.

"That... has to be the most epic case of slacking off I think I've ever seen!" I whisper with a grin. "_Seven months late_ on getting the movie edited, and he still gets it in on time! And it took time travel to make sure he had it when he needed it!"

I'm half tempted to burst out laughing, except I know it'll make trouble if I do. Shaking with mirth, I turn back to Mikuru. "Go ahead and take us back now - I've seen enough."

She looks completely mystified by whatever's got me so amused, but she takes my shoulders again regardless. "Remember, close your eyes..."

I do, and the sensation isn't quite as bad this time - maybe since I have an idea of what to expect. I still want to stumble a bit once I open my eyes, though.

"That was... wow, that was really cool," I can't help but gush - I just went to and came back from a different time! Admittedly one I've been through before, but still.

Mikuru, for her part, looks mostly relieved. "I'm actually kind of surprised they allowed that," she admits. "Seems like my requests never go through unless it's someone _else_ that's asking."

"That seems kind of surpris- wait. Someone else has asked you to take them time traveling before and you did?" I narrow my eyes - I can really only think of one possibility here. "So when exactly did Kyon want to visit?"

"I'm- I didn't-" Mikuru splutters for a minute.

"Oh, come on, Mikuru - who else would it be? I can't really see you taking Yuki or Koizumi time traveling - or Tsuruya, for that matter." I shake my head. "And you've already told me you've taken Kyon back to that Tanabata before. So, when did he want to visit?"

She sighs at that, plucking at her skirt. "He... it was to a time back in December, about a week before Christmas," she says quietly. "Right before he was in that coma."

My expression falls at that. "...oh. Did... it have something to do with the coma, then?" I ask, feeling a lot less enthusiastic.

"I... don't like to think about it," Mikuru says, looking away from me.

"Well, think about it!" I retort, exasperated. "If it had something to do with him ending up in that coma-"

"He- we went back to watch him get stabbed!" Mikuru snaps back at me - I don't think I've ever seen Mikuru get angry with me, although I suppose it's reasonable since I was making her think about-

"Wait, WHAT?"

She doesn't answer me, simply sniffling as she starts to cry - in earnest this time, I think, not her usual crocodile tears.

I sigh, scrubbing at my face for a minute to regain my own composure, then I pull out a chair for her. "Come on, Mikuru-chan - sit down and tell me about it." As she seats herself, I pull another chair over to sit next to her.

Despite that, it takes several minutes for the poor girl to regain any semblance of composure. I almost snap at her once to try to break her out of it... but then I imagine what I'd feel like if _I_ was the one watching Kyon get stabbed, and that kind of puts things in perspective a bit more.

Once she's managed to wind down, though, I try again. "Sorry I pushed you so hard, Mikuru-chan," I mumble. "So... if you don't mind talking about it, what exactly happened? Why did Kyon get stabbed?"

That prompts another wail from Mikuru. "That's just it, I don't even know! All I know is that I had to take him and Nagato-san back, then we stood back and watched while some girl with long blue hair stabbed his other self in the back, and then I fainted!" She hangs her head. "I couldn't do anything at all," she finishes in a near-whisper.

I wince at that - that must have been incredibly hard. Given that this is Mikuru, she probably just froze up when Kyon's... other self? I guess there'd have to have been two of him at that point, then. But yeah, I can see her freezing up if Kyon was being attacked by... wait. A girl with long blue hair?

It couldn't be.. could it? Yuki said she sent Asakura back to... wherever it is they come from.

I'm about to press Mikuru for more information, then I notice how miserable a state she's really in. My mouth snaps shut without saying anything, and I sigh - then one piece clicks into place for me. "Is that why you put that down for your goal for this year? To be able to help out more when it's needed?"

"That's... yes," Mikuru sighs. "The biggest part of it, anyway - I want to be able to help Kyon more, not just be the person that he has to help."

I fall silent at that, but I also can't help but notice the way she put that, either. Steeling myself, knowing I'm probably not going to like the answer, I forge ahead anyway. "You, um, really want to help Kyon then, huh?" I say quietly. "You must... like him then, I guess."

Mikuru just looks up at me with a shadowed gaze... and I'm ashamed to admit it, but I can't look her in the eye. "Yes," she says in a husky voice. "Yes, I actually like him a lot. But even if there weren't... other considerations in the way of that, I'm not allowed to have significant relationships in this time." She lets out a humorless laugh. "So no, Suzumiya-san, I'm not going to try to ask Kyon out, if that's what you're asking.

"Even if I'd really like to," she finishes, barely on the edge of my hearing.

And that... takes the last of the wind out of my sails entirely. As if I didn't feel guilty enough about pushing Mikuru back into that memory... now, to hear that she's interested in Kyon but completely unable to do anything about it even if she _wanted_ to...

All the times I've gotten on her and Kyon's case about being too close come rushing back into my head, right when I _don't_ want to think about them. How long has this... well, it doesn't really matter, does it? I've always made sure she couldn't get near Kyon - even making sure she only put 'obligation' on her Valentine's Day chocolates, maybe even while he was trying to deal with her being kidnapped!

I feel like a complete heel right now. Even if I didn't know it, it... probably seemed like I was rubbing her nose in the fact that she couldn't have him. I close my eyes, trying to fight back the crushing sense of guilt that's creeping up on me now.

While I'm in the middle of this, Mikuru draws a long, shuddering breath. "I'm sorry," she says softly. "I... really shouldn't have said anything. It's not like it matters, anyway."

Her chair scrapes on the floor as she scoots it back and stands. "I'm... was there anything else you wanted to talk to me about?" she asks dully. "I'd... kind of like to go home, if that's all right."

I look up in surprise - she's apologizing to _me_ for that? I search for words for a minute, my mouth working.

Face it, Suzumiya. You've really screwed around with Mikuru a lot - and while parts of it may have been worse than I knew, some of it was I already knew was pretty bad. The mental image of Kyon with his hand raised in anger, Koizumi just barely holding him back, comes to mind.

She seems to be taking my lack of response for a dismissal, since she turns away and starts for the door. I can't just leave this like this!

"Mikuru-chan, wait," I manage to eke out, getting up out of my own chair.

She pauses at the door, turning a bit to look back at me - not with her usual fear or trepidation, just looking very tired.

"I..." I grit my teeth. I've needed to do this for a long time, in all honesty - since back before the movie was finished. If I can't admit my own mistakes, I'm never going to be able to improve, and Mikuru... I've treated her pretty poorly from the day I first dragged her in here. It grates on me to say it, but it's something that has to be done anyway.

"Mikuru- no, Asahina-san. I've... done some pretty unreasonable things to you this year - and from what you've said, maybe even some things I didn't realize were as terrible as I thought. Either way, though, that doesn't excuse what I've done, so... I'm sorry." With that, I give her a full bow from the waist, my hair dangling around my face. "Please accept my sincerest apologies."

I hear Mikuru's feet shuffle on the floor, but I don't look up - I want to be sure she knows I really mean this.

"I forgive you," she says quietly, from just a couple of feet away. She puts a hand on my shoulder and lifts a little to get me to stand up.

I feel so miserable now I almost want to cry, myself. It wouldn't really help matters right now, though, so I keep a handle on my emotions. "Thanks, Mikuru-chan. I'll... try to make it up to you, somehow."

She gives another low chuckle at that, without much humor in it. "I wish you could, I really do. Somehow, I think this is something that's even outside your ability to fix, though." She just shakes her head a bit. "Was... there anything else for today?"

"No, no - you can go home," I say quickly. "I, I might have more questions for you later, but... no, you can go home. I should probably get going myself."

"All right then," she says, turning away in a single motion. "I'll... see you at the meeting tomorrow, I guess."

"Um... yeah. I... well, hopefully I can explain more in general, then, but... yeah." I keep fumbling for words. "I'll see you then."

She just nods, heading out the door and closing it behind her. Just as she does, the chime for the end of club meetings sounds; I should probably get going myself.

I've got a lot to think about tonight.


	6. Chapter 6

Under Review

A fanfiction of Suzumiya Haruhi

The characters depicted herein are solely the creation of Nagaru Tanigawa; I'm just borrowing the keys to the car for a while.

* * *

><p>I spend most of the train trip home trying not too think about too much of anything - there's just too much to process right now, and too many people around to do it. It's a slow trip home; the rain let up while I was talking with Mikuru, but the clouds are still there and everything's still wet.<p>

I don't actually live all that far from the station, but the trip today feels like it takes twice as long as usual. Maybe it even does, I'm not paying much attention to the time. I'm not really paying much attention to anything, really - I'm just trying to concentrate on the process of getting home.

Wait for the announcement of my stop. Stay out of the crush of people on the platform. Take the turn, put one foot in front of the other, and repeat.

Anything to put off thinking about what Mikuru said, for as long as I can, anyway. I hate it, but I'm going to have to face it sooner or later.

When I finally arrive, I see that Mom's already home. Smells like takeout tonight, so at least it'll be better than 'marginally edible'. I don't really feel like eating with her today, though - too much on my mind.

Mom has different ideas, though. I try to slip into the kitchen and grab some food to take up to my room, but she's in there herself and starts talking.

Don't get me wrong - I don't completely hate my mom or anything, but she doesn't _get_ me, and never really has. She does at least try, but... honestly, it feels like it's just one more appointment on her PDA - 'Friday evening: have chat with Haruhi'.

"Oh, there you are, Haruhi-chan! You should have called if you were running late," she chides.

"Sorry," I mumble, collecting a plate and getting some food for myself. "Kind of a rough afternoon, I was just going a little slow."

"Rough...?" A note of suspicion comes into her voice at that - great, just what I needed. "Haruhi, are you in some kind of-"

"No, Mom, I'm not in any kind of trouble at school," I reply testily. "Just some trouble dealing with... a friend."

"Oh," she replies, placated. "Is it... anything you want to talk about?"

I can't help but snort at that. 'Oh sure, Mom, I just found out that I've been hanging out with an alien and a time traveler for the last year and that they've both been keeping it secret from me for all that time.' Yeah, that's really something I expect you to take seriously.

I just shake my head in reply, then grab a bottle of green tea from the refrigerator before heading up to my room. I can hear Mom sigh as I head upstairs, but today... Today is not a day I want to try to explain things to her. She'd laugh it off as me making things up or chew me out for getting 'too lost in my fantasies' again.

Once I make it up to my room, I set dinner down on my desk and collapse into my chair, letting my head dangle over the back for a minute.

How could I have missed _that much_ about Mikuru? I mean, sure, I can't say I'm really surprised that she's got a thing for Kyon, but... I had no idea it hit her that hard. She sounded almost... broken, the way she was talking about it, but maybe that's not that surprising, all things considered.

I sit up and start in on dinner; if I leave it too long, it'll end up stone cold, and I should really eat something even if I'm not feeling particularly hungry.

I work my way through the meal mechanically, giving some serious thought to what things would be like if Mikuru and Kyon were... together. It makes a lump rise in my throat, making it hard to swallow, but I keep going, forcing down the last few bites before washing it down with a swallow of tea.

Ugh, bitter. But then again, so is what I'm thinking right now, so it at least matches my mood.

I force myself to face the idea head-on, though. I've given Mikuru (and to a lesser extent, Kyon) hell about it all year, and now... not only is she head-over-heels for Kyon, she's not _allowed_ to do anything about it because of her job, so she's been pining for him for who even knows how long.

And then I've been getting on both of their cases any time Kyon so much as looks at Mikuru with any kind of interest. I feel like a total bitch, now - if Mikuru couldn't do anything about it anyway, all, I've really been doing is rubbing her nose in the fact that she can't have him.

Thinking back... the movie casting is probably the worst of it. Even back then I realized that Kyon didn't particularly like Koizumi, so I made sure Kyon was forced to watch while I put him and Mikuru in every lovey-dovey situation I could think of. I knew it'd tick him off, and in the process I was making it clear to Mikuru that she'd do what _I_ wanted, and to hell with what she thought about it.

And she was such a cooperative little doll about it, too.

God, I was such an ass.

I heave myself out of my chair, heading over to stare out the window at the dark street outside.

Is Kyon _really_ that important to me?

Well, honestly, the answer to that is obvious. Of course he is, he's John Smith - the person that gave me the inspiration to keep searching for the unusual. Why _wouldn't_ he be one of the most important people in my life?

...but that's a copout, and I know it. I didn't _know_ Kyon was John Smith until just today, and even if I suspected it before it was no more than that - just a suspicion. Whenever I was getting on his case about Mikuru, he was only Kyon.

I turn away from the window, starting to pace back and forth as I think.

Even without John Smith, is Kyon so important to me that I can't let anyone else get close to him?

No, that's not it either. I wasn't that bothered by Yuki saying she was his friend - even before she said she was my friend! - although, to be honest, I have to admit my heart skipped a beat when she said she'd date him if that's what he wanted.

So, Suzumiya, stop beating around the bush and face up to the question - the _real_ question, the one that makes the difference.

I fall back on my bed, simply staring up at the ceiling, as I ponder that question: Do I like Kyon? Romantically? Do I want to go out with Tadamichi Kyousuke?

I've been dodging this question for... over a year now. Ever since those first weeks at Kitago, where he actually had the nerve to ask me if I was serious. Between my reputation from East Middle School and my introduction, I was sure I'd scare off pretty much everyone except the really serious (or weird) guys; maybe not the best idea, in retrospect, but it's not like I can go back and change it now.

Well, maybe I could, with Mikuru's help, but if I didn't do that, would Kyon have spoken up to me?

I think back to those early weeks, before there even _was_ an SOS Brigade. Searching randomly through the school for unuusal types, trying out every club in the school - admittedly, both of those were mostly to try to find John Smith or any information about him. Trying everything I could to draw attention to myself as someone who was unusual, so other unusual people would go 'hey, maybe we should look into that Suzumiya Haruhi'.

And yet, given all of that, no one did - except Kyon, who was obviously just about as normal as you can get, except for that odd first twinge of deja vu - that and the fact that he wasn't afraid to talk to me.

Between those two things, I can freely admit that I was curious. Deja vu itself is a neat unexplained phenomenon, and the fact that _I_ was feeling it directly really piqued my interest. The other half of it was that Kyon, for whatever reason, didn't just blow me off.

I was trying, though. Back in those first days of the year, everyone figured they could pin me down - either as someone cute enough to date or someone to help out or befriend, and I didn't want any of it - all of it was too normal and boring! I'd been through all of the same things in middle school, and even letting it get started in high school was out of the question.

Even he was the same until the day he asked me about the way I was changing my hair. It actually pissed me off - how could this completely normal buffoon have figured out the way I was doing it? And to top it off, he even _told_ me he'd worked out that it was for attracting attention! Not all of it, obviously, but more than I would have expected anyone to notice.

But it made me actually pay attention to him for the first time, and that's when that little pang of familiarity hit me - which irritated me even more. Deja vu should be cool and mysterious! Not something that's triggered with some totally average idiot.

So I cut my hair. If _he_ was paying attention to it, obviously it wasn't unusual enough to attract the attention of anyone that wasn't normal, and if it was something he cared about, then obviously cutting it off should get him to leave me alone.

Except that he didn't.

I roll over on my stomach and take a swig from my tea. After that day, he just wouldn't give up. Sometimes he'd have something mildly interesting to talk about, and we'd end up talking for a few minutes. Other times, he'd come up with the same boring crap that everyone else was talking about, and I'd just ignore him. But even if I ignored him one day, he'd try again the next, and eventually he seemed to figure out the stuff I hated, since the days where I felt inclined to ignore him got fewer and fewer.

It was a first.

No one had _ever_ tried figuring me out before. They either tried to ignore all the things I did to try to make myself unique and push ahead with what _they_ cared about, or act like everything was normal even when 'normal' was the absolute _last_ thing I wanted.

Kyon was the first person - well, the first since John Smith, anyway - to be willing to accept what I said at face value. Even if he was only paying lip service to those ideas, it was still more than anyone else had done in the last three years. But I didn't think then - and I still don't, now - that he was just saying what he was saying to get on my good side.

Then came the conversation I won't forget, ever - him droning on about how for normal people 'like us' we should just sit back and enjoy the ride, since it was the exceptional people, the geniuses and visionaries, that made the world change to fit their views.

I was determined not to be one of those 'normal' people, just waiting for something to happen - I _would_ be one of the people to make things change.

And so the SOS Brigade was born.

Those first few days were great - Yuki was a real find, for starters. I knew that with only one person in the Literature Club she'd have trouble with it getting shut down sooner or later, so I figured I could strongarm her into accepting more members while I set up the Brigade - since without us she'd lose the clubroom sooner or later. The fact that she had her nose buried in some weird Western science fiction was a nice bonus, too - if she was interested in sci-fi, she might at least be open to the idea that there were aliens and time travelers out there.

I can't help but snort at that as I finish off the last of the tea. I wonder if the science fiction she's been reading all along is humor for her, in picking apart how crazy and wrong the authors really are about aliens and other dimensions.

Mikuru I just figured would be the ultimate eye-candy; ridiculously moe beyond any reasonable standards, so even aliens couldn't help but be moved by her, right? Not that everyone else wouldn't too, but that's all right - she'd draw absolutely _everyone's_ attention, and the normal idiots should be easy to weed out from there.

Except that Kyon paid attention to her too.

That, I hated with a passion. Kyon was the only one who'd ever cared enough about finding out about me - about _me_ - to actually stick around.

How dare she take his attention away from me!

So I made _damn_ sure she knew her place on the food chain. The fact that I could get a computer out of it was a nice bonus, admittedly, but the important part was making sure Mikuru knew that I could - and would - make her life hell if I saw the need.

What a selfish, stuck-up bitch.

I roll over and bury my face in my pillow, trying to conceal the hot, shameful tears I can feel forming. I can't really hide from it, can I?

Kyon's been _mine_ since before I even started the Brigade, and I've done my damnedest to make sure everyone knew it, too - except for Kyon himself. Why should that be any of his concern, after all? I mean, he _made_ his choice when he showed that he was interested in me.

Or that's what I wanted to assume, anyway. But then, I'd never showed him any kind of interest in return, had I? Why _wouldn't_ he keep looking?

_This_ is why I hate love! It _is_ just like a mental illness - it sets itself up in your head and twists around the way you think and act. Everything you do gets contaminated by it!

Just like it's done to me.

There, I've admitted it. I've been avoiding it for who knows how long, but I can't deny it anymore. I think I'm in love with Kyon.

And it's made me act just as stupid as all those simpering idiots I despised back in middle school. Hell, I made every effort to crush a _time traveler_ over it - and apparently was so blinded by it that I didn't even realize that's what she was!

I sit up in my bed, slamming my fist into my pillow angrily. This is all Kyon's fault, dammit! If he hadn't led me on - made me think he was interested in me - I wouldn't have done any of this!

Why couldn't he just have come out and confessed to me, if he was actually interested? I _know_ all the stories from East Middle made the rounds - he should have known I wouldn't have turned him down if he'd asked!

Except a little worm of guilt won't let me accept that. Yeah, the stories from East Middle would have gone around - and that's only half of that story. I know for a fact Taniguchi would have talked to him about it, and after our world's record 15 minute relationship, he'd have tipped him off that I never dated anyone longer than a week.

Knowing that little tidbit, why _would_ he say anything to me? Knowing it wouldn't last more than a few days?

I take a minute to scrub my face and blow my nose. So, if it's not reasonable for me to expect him to say anything to me, why haven't _I_ ever said anything to _him_ about it?

Well, the answer to that... I told him that I hated love. How could I turn around on that and then say that I liked him? To turn into one of those stammering idiots writing stupid confession notes and daydreaming about romance all day? That's way too normal and bland for Suzumiya Haruhi!

...besides, what if he rejected me? The invincible Suzumiya Haruhi, the girl who tossed aside every suitor in East Middle School, reduced to confessing to some guy that brushed her off just as easily?

And that's when I realize that it isn't _love_ that's backed me into this corner, it's something else entirely.

It's _pride_.

Suzumiya Haruhi, admitting she was wrong about love?

Suzumiya Haruhi, lowering herself to be just like any other normal high school girl?

Suzumiya Haruhi, risking rejection by confessing to the guy she likes?

Unthinkable, any of it! Because all of it means that Suzumiya Haruhi has to risk being humbled.

Except that now it's happened. Suzumiya Haruhi has admitted she's wrong, and _apologized_ for it, because even she has to swallow her pride when she really looks at how she's treated someone she considered a friend - out of nothing more than jealousy and selfishness.

Maybe it's time for me to do the same with Kyon. I know enough, now, to confront him about being John Smith; I don't know what's going on with Koizumi, but given how far off I was in some ways about Mikuru, maybe it's better if I let Kyon _tell_ me what the deal is there in case I've misjudged him.

And for how I feel about him... well, we can talk about that too.

* * *

><p>I do at least manage to get some sleep, but it's uneasy at best, full of nightmares - glowing giants locked in mortal combat with one another in a dead, grey world. I don't know where they come from, but I've had dreams like this on and off for years - usually when I'm angry or upset in some way.<p>

Usually, I feel better after one of those dreams; watching the giants tear through the world around them, breaking down the old and worn-out to make way for the new and exciting - it's normally really invigorating!

Today, though, I feel... uneasy, but settled in a way - even though that doesn't really make sense.

I'm nervous about what's going to happen when I talk to Kyon - how could I not be? - but at least I know which direction I'm going from here. Even aside from that, there are other problems I need to face, like what I should do about Mikuru, but... I'm going to take one thing at a time.

Maybe Kyon can even help - it's not like _he_ didn't see this; he said it to me straight out in my review.

I shake my head a bit, feeling a wry smile forming. With everything going on, I almost forgot that's where this all started. Reviewing the performance of the members of the SOS Brigade... turns out it was the chief that had the most she needed to work on.

And only one of the members had the guts to tell her so to her face.

Not that it's likely to matter much until all the dust settles, but Kyon is _absolutely_ going to be the vice-commander from here on out. Even if things don't pan out between us the way I'd like, he's at least earned that by willing to be honest with me.

Thoughts like this occupy me as I climb the hill and enter the school; as usual, by the time I've changed my shoes and settled at my desk, I'm still one of the only people in the room. Kyon usually doesn't get here until almost the last minute, so I'm not going to have any time to talk to him before class.

I toy with the idea of leaving him a note, then decide against it - that's worse than those guys in middle school. With as important as this is, Kyon deserves no less than what I'd want someone to give me - the courage to tell him how I feel to his face, not hidden in a note or behind a telephone call.

When he finally comes in there's just a couple of minutes before the chime to start classes is due to ring. I can't help but look at him as he comes in, though; he's got that same bored and disinterested look he usually wears in class, although when he catches sight of me his expression turns a bit more concerned.

"What's wrong?" he asks as he hangs his bag from the side of his desk, not even bothering with a greeting. "You look like you've got something serious on your mind."

Boy, is that an understatement. "You could say that," I reply tightly, not meeting his gaze.

"Anything you want to talk about?" he continues, settling in at his desk as Okabe bustles in.

I take a deep breath, steeling myself before answering. "Actually... yeah, it is. But not now."

That actually prompts a double-take, Kyon staring back at me incredulously. "You _do_?"

"Yes!" I hiss back, tossing my head in Okabe's direction. "Not now, though - after class. Don't you dare be late to the meeting!" I can't help but put some fire into the order - if I'm going to do this, the last thing I need is for Kyon to mess around.

"I... sure," he says, obviously confused.

I give him a sharp nod, just as the class representative begins the morning ritual to stand and bow. That's the first step down, at least.

* * *

><p>At lunchtime, I'm half tempted to drag Kyon out and get started, but Sakanaka's been trying to get my attention all morning and I doubt we'd be able to get through everything before afternoon classes started anyway.<p>

I follow Sakanaka's lead out of the classroom, although I decide to skip lunch; I've had butterflies dancing in my stomach all day, and the thought of eating something... no, not now.

We head up to the roof again; it's not completely deserted today, at least, but there are few enough people up here that finding an area to talk privately isn't hard. I can't really muster up the enthusiasm to press Sakanaka for info, so she opens up her lunch and waits a minute before deciding that I'm not going to start the conversation.

"We, um, did get more information yesterday," she offers, looking at me a bit worriedly. "Nanaka-chan's club isn't meeting this week - ah, that's Onoki Nanaka, she's in the tea ceremony club.

"Anyway, she was outside the building yesterday right after school let out when Koizumi-san came running through in a big hurry. She said he jumped into a black taxicab and drove off before she could see much, but that the driver did look like an older man with white hair. She didn't have time to get a picture, though."

"That's great," I say, giving her the best smile I can manage. "Good to get confirmation on that, at least."

She frowns a bit, taking a bite from her bento before she speaks again. "Is... something wrong? You've been looking a little... worried, today."

Do I really want to talk about this with her? On the one hand, it's not like she's going to believe me about all of the Brigade members, I'm sure, but... she's been a lot of help with Koizumi, and I shouldn't just totally brush her off, either.

"I'm... yeah, I'm kinda worried," I admit. "I can't really get into the details too much, but I'm going to have to talk to Kyon about some really serious stuff today."

"Oh," she says, sitting up a bit as she eats a bit more of her lunch. "Is this... are you going to confess to him or something?"

She at least doesn't get giggly and excited when she asks, so I've got to give her some credit there. "No, it's not..." I grit my teeth and sigh. If I can't be honest with Sakanaka, how badly is it going to go when I try to talk to Kyon?

"It may come to that, but it's a lot bigger than just that," I manage to eke out. "Some of it's related to what you've been doing in watching Koizumi for me."

"I... see," Sakanaka says quietly, looking a bit down. "I guess I shouldn't pry, then."

Am I about to hurt another friend out of my stupid pride?

I rub my forehead for a minute before answering her. "It's not... it's not even that I don't want to tell you - I don't necessarily want to keep this a secret from you," I blurt out. "It's just... some of this stuff is almost unbelievable, and I'm not even sure how much of it is true or what's going on with all of it.

"I just don't... I don't want to shoot my mouth off without knowing more about what's going on. I... kind of found out yesterday that I may have really hurt someone by doing that, and I don't want to do it again if I can help it," I admit. "I... what I don't know, I think Kyon does, and I'm hoping he can help me sort out what's going on."

Sakanaka just takes that in quietly, then gives me a soft smile. "All right, I understand," she replies. "I'll just wish you luck with Kyon, then, and if you want to talk about it later, I'll be all ears."

"Thanks for understanding." I give her a small smile myself. "Anyway, I'll leave you to your lunch - I'm not particularly hungry today, and... well. I doubt I'd be very good company at the moment."

I stand and give her a quick bow to excuse myself. "Thanks again for your help!"

"It's no trouble," she says just before I turn to go. "Good luck, Suzumiya-san - I'll be rooting for you!"

* * *

><p>The rest of lunch is spent roaming the halls to kill time; Kyon's eating with Taniguchi and Kunikida as usual, so I peek in on the others' classrooms for lack of anything else to do.<p>

Mikuru's in her third-year classroom, eating lunch with Tsuruya; the green-haired girl is as energetic as always, from what I can see. Thinking back to Mikuru in the clubroom yesterday... it's probably good that they're friends, if Mikuru's been having such a hard time. I still need to figure out how I can try to make things up to her.

Yuki I don't spot in her classroom, but I've seen her in the clubroom at lunch before; she might be over there, but I don't really feel like crossing over to the old building to check.

Koizumi's eating alone in his classroom; not that I'm really surprised, but a lot of the girls seem to be looking over at him. He doesn't look so hot today, though - while I've never seen him mussed up or dirty the way Kyon is most of the time, he _does_ look pretty tired. Wonder what kept _him_ up.

I spend a little more time wandering the halls, then settle back into my desk shortly before the tone sounds to end lunch. Kyon gives me a somewhat worried look as I sit back down, but I don't meet his gaze. Nice to know that he's concerned about me, though.

And so, the waiting game begins again. On the bright side, the period after lunch until the end of classes is shorter, but it makes up for it by having the most ridiculously boring teachers and subjects of the entire day. I'll admit, Kamishirasawa-sensei is one of the better history teachers I've had - she at least makes it interesting most of the time - but today? I don't really care to get into a detailed list of battles during Tokugawa's rise to power.

At long last, though, the chime sounds to end class, and we bow to the teacher as we collect our books. _Finally_ - at last there's nothing standing between me and a long talk with-

"Suzumiya!" The class rep, Goto, calls out my name. "You're on cleaning duty today!"

_What?_

_Damn_ it! Damn damn damn _damn_!

I can feel my face flushing as I get angry, but... if I make a scene it's only going to take longer, so I might as well get it over with as fast as possible.

I grab Kyon by his tie and yank him close before he can make his way out of the room. "You'd _better_ be in the clubroom waiting by the time I get done here, got it?" I growl.

He looks shocked at the sudden tug, but sighs and nods after I'm done. "Of course," he says tiredly.

"I'm absolutely serious today, Kyon!" I snap at him.

"All right, all right, I'll be there," he says, trying to placate me.

I just stomp my way over to the closet with the cleaning supplies in response, Kyon beating a hasty retreat as I do. I slam open the door and dig out a bucket; I'm half tempted to kick the damn thing across the room, I'm so mad!

There's some kind of commotion out in the hallway, but I ignore it for now. The sooner I get this stupid chore done, the sooner I can get out of here.

It takes me a couple of minutes to fill the bucket with water and get a washcloth ready. Just as I'm about to start scrubbing the teacher's podium down, though, the commotion out in the hall returns - and makes its way to me. Sakanaka darts into the room, out of breath, then quickly comes over to me.

"Suzu... Suzumiya-san," she pants. "I don't know what's going on, but Koizumi... Koizumi was waiting in the hall, and when he saw Kyon come out, he just grabbed Kyon's arm and started off with him - then after they changed their shoes, he took off running!"

"He _what_?" I shout, wringing the cloth in my hands.

"I caught... Nanaka-chan at the gate, she's following them from there," Sakanaka continues, finally breathing normally again. "She said she'd text me once she's seen where they're going."

I grit my teeth in frustration... to hell with it, cleaning duty can get bent! I'm going after Kyon. "Okay - Sakanaka, come with me, we're getting reinforcements," I declare, grabbing her wrist and pulling her along as I head over to the old complex at a fast walk.

If they're being followed, there's no need to rush - they've got too much of a headstart on me to make up by running, so I'll just wait for them to stop and then corner them.

I burst into the clubroom without knocking; Mikuru's the only one here, though - well, obviously Kyon and Koizumi aren't, but Yuki being missing is a little odd. The time traveler is standing in front of the costume rack, and as usual she literally jumps when the door hits the wall.

"Mikuru-chan!" I bark out. "Leave your stuff here and come on - this is an emergency! Kyon's being abducted!"

She blinks in surprise at that, her mouth dropping open. "Abducted? But I haven't..." She shakes her head.

"Don't worry about that, just come on!" I snap at her. "This is no time to be helpless and moe - we need to go rescue him! Didn't you say you wanted to be the person to step up and help when it's needed? Well, that time is now!"

"I... but I," she flounders for a minute, then seems to focus. "You're right - I do want to be that person," she says, looking more determined than I think I've ever seen her. "Just tell me what I need to do!"

I give her a grin. "That's the spirit! But for now, just hurry - Sakanaka-san's got a friend following Kyon and Koizumi, and she'll let us know where they're going," I explain, as the three of us head out to the shoe lockers.

I'm kind of surprised that Sakanaka's getting into it this much, though - she's grinning as we jog towards the school's entrance.

Just as we arrive at the lockers, Sakanaka's phone chirps. While we change shoes, she flips it open with one hand, scanning over it briefly. "Looks like they headed down to the station and got on the train, headed into town. Nanaka-chan managed to get on with them, she'll let me know where they get off."

"Awesome - I'm going to owe you guys a major favor for all this, Sakanaka-san," I say as the three of us head out of the school.

"Wait," Mikuru says, catching up to me. "Did you say Koizumi and Kyon?"

"Of course!" I start to snap, then realize that Mikuru doesn't have any idea what's actually going on other than me demanding her help. That was something she asked for, too, now that I think about it.

"I told Kyon today that I had some really serious stuff to talk to him about today in the meeting," I explain as we jog down the hill. "Related to... well, what we talked about yesterday, and some about Yuki, too."

"I... see," she says after a moment, starting to puff a bit as we near the station. "But what does that have to do with Koizumi-kun?"

"Well, I got stuck with cleaning duty, and I told Kyon to go wait for me in the clubroom - and then Sakanaka-san saw Koizumi dragging him out of the school. I haven't figured out everything about him yet, but I've got some clues, and if he's abducting Kyon for some shady reason... I'm not going to stand for it!"

Mikuru's wheezing pretty hard by this point; I almost want to shake her for it. This is an emergency, pick up the pace! There's no train at the station as far as I can see, though, so I slow down a bit to let the redhead attempt to catch her breath - she does at least seem to be trying her best.

Another minute at a jog is enough time for us to reach the station platform. As we wait for the next inbound train, I glance over at Mikuru; her panting easing up a bit, and she seems to be smiling a bit, which is a little odd.

"Mikuru-chan?" I ask, eyeing her dubiously.

"Oh!" she says, startled out of her thoughts. "Sorry, I was just... thinking."

Sakanaka looks over at the two of us curiously, but holds her tongue for now. I can just bet she's wondering what's going on - I'll definitely have to give her a good explanation later.

"Anyway, what I was thinking is that once we find them, I'll take care of Koizumi while you get Kyon to someplace safe," I tell the redhead. "Sakanaka-san, once we get them cornered it'll probably be best if you and Onoki-san stay out of the way, just in case."

Sakanaka nods absently, flipping through her phone again. "Looks like they got off at-"

Her voice is cut off by the arrival of the train, the brakes screeching as it pulls to a halt. I wait until the doors have opened and we've boarded before I ask for clarification.

"Where'd they get off? Couldn't hear you over the train."

By this point, though, Sakanaka's buried in her phone again. "Hang on a minute... oh, this doesn't look good. They got off at Kitaguchi station - Nanaka-chan saw them cut into an alley behind a cafe near there, but they're not there now and she's not sure where they could have gone."

I shake my head at that. "Well, at least we've got somewhere to start," I grumble. "Let her know we should be there in just a couple of minutes, and she can meet us at the station to show us which alley it is."

"Right," Sakanaka agrees, already punching buttons on her phone.

Mikuru's looking a bit spaced out, I notice; I wave my hand in front of her face as the train lurches into motion. "You still with us, Mikuru-chan?"

"Just a minute," she says, frowning a bit in concentration. I scowl at that, but don't push; it's not like we're ready to rescue Kyon right this minute. Maybe she's just trying to psych herself u-

Out of nowhere, my own phone buzzes with a new text message. I look down at it and find that it's... from Mikuru? While she's standing right next to me? She doesn't even have her phone out!

The message simply reads: 'Back at 4:30'. I check the time on my phone; it's about 3:55 now.

I give her a puzzled look, and just as I do she seems to snap back into focus, looking at me quizzically. "Sorry about that - it's... um, a little hard to explain," she offers, her eyes flicking over to Sakanaka.

Something to do with time travel, I guess. "All right," I mutter. "I did just get a text, though-"

"Don't tell me about it, please!" Mikuru says quickly, then lowers her voice and whispers directly into my ear. "I'm already stretching some rules to get you some information, but I can't know about it yet - all I know is that it should be something related to Koizumi and Kyon."

I'm taken a bit aback by that. "Wait, it's okay for _me_ to know about it but not _you_? How does that even make sense?" I splutter.

"It has to do with classified inform-" She bites her lip at that, and I just sigh in response.

"I guess that'll have to be enough for now," I grumble.

Overhead, the speaker announces that the train is arriving at Kitaguchi station, so I move over towards Sakanaka, Mikuru trailing along in my wake. As we get off, I see another somewhat-familiar girl in a Kitago uniform; once she sees me and Sakanaka getting off the train, she waves and trots over to meet us.

"You got here quicker than I thought!" she replies, looking mostly towards Sakanaka among the three of us.

"Onoki-san, right?" I jump in before Sakanaka can reply. "I really appreciate the help - but we don't really have time to talk. Can you show us where you last saw Kyon and Koizumi?"

"S-sure," she stammers, a bit taken aback by me taking over. "It's not far - follow me!"

With that, we hustle out of the station. She's right about it, though - the alley she leads us to is actually directly behind the cafe we usually meet at during our mystery searches, just a couple of blocks from the station itself.

"They went back there, but by the time I came around the corner they'd disappeared!" Onoki explains. "I'm not sure where they could have gone, though, unless they got into the back of the cafe somehow."

"That's okay - Mikuru-chan and I will take it from here," I nod sharply. "You've been a big help - but this is SOS Brigade business, and it might be kind of dangerous. It'll be best if you and Sakanaka-san head out; we can handle this, and I can give you the rundown on what happened later."

Onoki nods timidly and heads out of the alley, but Sakanaka sighs. "Be careful, Suzumiya-san, and good luck - both with this and with Kyon. Give me a call once the dust settles, okay?"

"You bet," I reply, flashing her a grin.

She nods in reply, following Onoki out of the alley. Once they're gone, I look over at Mikuru.

"I know you said you can't give me details about Koizumi, but... is it possible that he and Kyon could have disappeared from here entirely - like, teleported or something?

She frowns a bit. "I... don't know too much about how Koizumi does what it is that he does, but I'm pretty sure he could, yes."

I nod at that, then pull out my phone to check the time - 4:20. Snapping the phone shut, I give Mikuru a quick nod. "Okay then - if that's a possibility, I think the two of them might be coming back here soon. So here's the plan: we'll wait here in the alley for a little while. If Kyon shows up we get him out of here and regroup; if it's just Koizumi, I'll make him talk until he tells us where Kyon is. If they're together, I'll handle Koizumi and you get Kyon out of danger. Clear enough?"

Mikuru looks nervous, but nods anyway. "I'll do my best," she avers.

I don't know what Koizumi can do, exactly, but I'll have to take some risks to get Kyon out of here no matter what we do. I figure my best bet will be to try to stun him, somehow; I don't want to hurt him seriously if I'm wrong about what's going on, so delaying him for long enough for us to get to a safe location is probably the best call.

With the plan of action squared away, now it's just down to waiting, but this time it's not for long. Shortly after checking my phone at 4:28, there's an odd distortion in the air, and Koizumi and Kyon both appear in the alley a moment later. They're facing away from us, so I can't tell much about what's been going on, but I move into action as soon as the distortion fades.

"Mikuru, now!" I yell, darting forward and shoving Kyon forward a few steps, away from Koizumi.

The latter turns to face me with an expression of complete horror, but I'm not really in the mood to talk. Out of the corner of my eye I see Mikuru grab Kyon's hand and dash towards the end of the alley, but I don't spare more than a moment's attention before I turn my focus completely on Koizumi.

"I don't know what you're planning with Kyon, but I'm not going to let you get away with it!" I yell, lashing out and planting a fist in his stomach. I'm no martial artist, but the blow is apparently a good one - enough to drive the air out of him in a great 'whoosh' and knock him flat on his ass.

Perfect, that should buy us a minute or two!

With the esper down, I run to the end of the alley, where Mikuru and Kyon are both staring at me in shock.

"What are you waiting for, let's get out of here!" I exclaim, grabbing both Kyon and Mikuru arm and dragging them both after me as I run past.

"Haruhi..." Kyon splutters in my wake, before finally coming up with "What the _hell_?"

I don't stop to answer until we're right outside the station; if Koizumi's been going to this kind of effort to hide what he can do, I doubt he'll try anything while we're in an area this public.

I finally turn to Kyon, giving him a smirk as I answer his question - 'what the hell' indeed.

"Just doing what someone told me to do, a long time ago," I reply. "After all, I have to look out for the John Smith that will shake the world."

* * *

><p>Author's Note: Kyon's name in this chapter is borrowed from Brian Randall (aka Durandall), with his permission. If you're reading my poor prose I can't imagine you haven't read at least some of his, but if you haven't, do so!<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

The last half hour hasn't gone anything like what I would have expected.

After I dropped the bomb on Kyon, he gaped at me for a minute, then sighed. "There are so many things I could say to that, but... honestly, I don't even know where to start right now." He shakes his head, then pulls free of my hand. "We're definitely going to have to talk, but I'd better check on Koizumi first."

That was my first hint that I might have been a bit hasty, but I wasn't going to back down in front of Kyon. "Wait, you're actually worried about him?"

That prompted a snort. "For once, yes," he replied.

"I'm coming with you then," I say, scowling a bit. If this really is some kind of misunderstanding I might need to apologize to Koizumi, but if it's not... I'm not giving him a chance to run off with Kyon again!

He takes a moment to pull himself together before he answers, in a very familiar pose - fingertips of one hand on the bridge of his nose and thumb on temple. "Actually, that would probably make things more complicated than they need to be. You... Why don't you wait at the cafe while I get Koizumi taken care of? I can promise you, the last thing he's going to want to do at this point is get you any more upset, and I'll be back once I'm done."

I wasn't thrilled with that, but I compromised - after all, it sounded like I might have been a bit hasty. "All right," I muttered, trudging off to wait for him.

Mikuru, who'd been silent throughout the whole process, glanced back and forth between the me and Kyon for a minute before scurrying after me. Not much passed between us, though, until I got inside and grabbed a table.

Once I'd sat down, though, she stood outside the booth and smoothed down her skirt nervously. "Did... Do you want me to stay for your talk with Kyon-kun?"

I took a minute to think about that one, then shook my head. "No, I don't think you'll want to be around for this," I replied with a frown. That's definitely true if we get into talking about how I feel about him! Mikuru's been through enough on that count, I don't need to make it any worse.

"A-all right," she quavered, slumping a bit. "Well, then, tell him... well, no, I guess I can just leave him a note if it comes to that," she sighs.

I gave her a real scowl at that. "Oh no you don't!" I snapped at her. "If you need to tell Kyon something, then wait here and tell him when he comes in! I'm not saying you can't talk to him, I just don't think you'll want to be around when we start talking. If you've got something you need to say, then wait until he's done with Koizumi and talk to him before you leave!"

She flinches back a little at that. "But I- I don't know if I can tell him to his face!" she blurted out.

"If you're going to confess or something like that, it should _definitely_ be something you tell him to his face! And if it's not that, what's so bad that you can't tell him directly?

"You said you wanted to gain more confidence in the upcoming year - so, start now!"

Encouraging Mikuru to confess at this point... well, if nothing else, I'd hate to see her stuck pining away for him without him ever realizing it. No matter what happens, nothing good can come out of that.

She wilted a bit at that, but took a seat across from me at the booth to wait. "I'll try."

* * *

><p>Whatever was on Mikuru's mind, she wasn't particularly talkative (not that I could really blame her after yesterday), so I spent most of the time staring out the window.<p>

It took about ten minutes before I saw Kyon helping a very shaky Koizumi along the road outside, headed towards the station, then another ten before he finally steps into the cafe. While he's still looking around for us, I turn towards Mikuru and nod.

"Go on," I exhort her. "If you've got something you need to tell him, do it - I'll wait here."

She steels herself visibly, then gets out of the booth to go talk to Kyon. They're too far away for me to overhear, since they're talking quietly, but I can see Kyon's face as they talk - although Mikuru's facing away from me, so I can't see her expression. Kyon starts out with a wry smile, which changes over to a worried frown as Mikuru talks - must not be good news, I can see her shoulders slump. At the end, he gives her a worried nod, then she looks up, stands on her tiptoes, and gives him a kiss on the cheek-

My eyes blur at that, and I feel my heart lurch. Well, I... can't say that was entirely unexpected, but.

I turn back to the table, rubbing my eyes briefly to clear them - I don't need Kyon to see me all teary-eyed from that.

Just as I lower my hand to the table, Kyon slides into the seat across from me, looking worried. "I... honestly don't know where that came from," he admits after taking one look at my face.

"Then you're dumber than I gave you credit for," I snap back. While I can definitely _understand_ where it came from, and I don't plan on getting on Mikuru's case about it anymore, it doesn't exactly fill me with joy to see it firsthand, either.

This isn't going to win me any points with him, though, and taking out my frustration on him... well, I do think he'd probably take it, but then that's not very considerate to Kyon, and if we're going to be talking about how I feel about him? ...yeah, not a good plan.

I blow out a breath and take a minute to study Kyon before I go on. He looks... well, honestly, he looks tired. Worried. A little guilty, too, although that could be because of Mikuru. I don't like it - this is a momentous occasion! I was so fired up about talking to him about all of this, but he looks like a man going to face a firing squad. Well, there's only one thing I can think of that he's got to feel guilty about, so I'll try getting it out of the way first.

"So," I begin, trying not to frown as I ask the question, "why didn't you ever tell me? About yourself, that is."

He deflates a bit at that, not meeting my eyes as he answers. "I didn't think... well, no, that's not entirely true. At first, I really didn't think you would believe me. Later, I had a very good reason to think you _would_ believe me, but if you knew- Well, let's just say that things would get a lot more complicated than I wanted to deal with if I had to tell you.

"It's something that only you and I would know, after all, and I was saving it for... for a time when I'd really need you to listen to me."

I let out a humorless chuckle at that. "Yeah, well... I suppose I didn't give you much of a reason to think I'd believe you, after I blew you off about the others. Sounds like something changed your mind, though...?"

"Ah, that's true, but... well, it's really a complicated story," he hedges. "Before I get into that, I suppose I should ask how much you know at this point - if you've worked out that I'm John Smith, I'd guess you at least know something about Asahina-san as well."

I nod to that. "I worked out that she was a time traveler, yeah - Tsuruya actually gave me a hint that made that really easy, and when I talked to Mikuru about it, she confessed to taking you back to Tanabata four years ago - although she didn't have any idea what you actually did there."

He chuckles in reply to that. "I suppose that's true, she did spend almost the entire time there asleep. What about Nagato and Koizumi? Well, I suppose it's obvious that Koizumi has extra-normal abilities after he and I appeared out of nowhere, but how much do you know about him?"

"I actually found out about Yuki first," I admit. "I had a pretty good hunch about Mikuru, and Koizumi seemed likely, and you being John Smith was possible... so, when I had a chance to talk to her alone, I just asked her straight out if she was an alien.

"She didn't try to hide anything at all," I continue, leaning back in the booth seat. "I'll admit, I was so surprised by the whole thing that I missed some of the details - all I remember is that she's part of some data entity and she was sent here to look for data to help them evolve.

I look down at the table. "She also told me that she hadn't said anything before then because I wouldn't have believed her - and that you didn't believe her at first, either." I glance up at Kyon without raising my face. "Did Asakura Ryouko _really_ try to kill you?"

He gets a pained look at that and passes his hand over his face. "Twice," he confirms. "The first time was just after the Brigade got started, about a year ago now. The second... well, it's part of that complicated thing that happened last December - you'd probably remember it as the time I was in a coma."

I wince at that, not liking to remember that time at _all_ - but if it was something other than being in a coma, well. "So was it like... some dream when you were in the- no, actually, that couldn't work, Mikuru said she remembered it too, and that wouldn't work very well if it was just a dream."

That elicits a sigh from Kyon. "I can explain that, but before I do, maybe I should get any other questions out of the way first." He pauses for a minute, appearing to choose his words carefully. "When you talked to Nagato, did she... hmm. She said she was here looking for data to help the entity evolve, but did she say anything about why she was _here_ looking for it, or where she expected it to come from?"

"Nope, nothing about any of that," I shake my head. "Why, is it something I should know?"

Kyon just groans in response. "I should have figured I couldn't get off that easy," he grumbles. "All right - setting aside the others, what have you learned about the two of us?"

"Well, I didn't really look into you all that much - Yuki said you were a normal human, but you were the only one she said anything about other than herself. She refused to tell me anything about Mikuru and Koizumi, told me I could figure them out on my own.

"And me? Why would I need to look at myself? I think if I was unusual, I'd know about it!"

Kyon just gives me a level look at that, and I feel that burst of confident assurance crumbling. "...wouldn't I?"

He shakes his head in reply. "Nagato was right about me, at least - I can't do anything unusual, although I've certainly _seen_ my share of unusual things at this point.

"You, on the other hand... oh man, how do I even say this." He scrubs at his face for a minute. "I'll start by saying that you're the main reason why Nagato is here, and you're absolutely the reason why Koizumi is here - almost everything he _does_ is connected to you. Or has been."

That last comment prompts a wry smile from him, but there's no way I'm going to let it go at that. "You're telling me that _I'm_ the reason all these people are here?" I shoot back. "I mean, it's no secret that I was looking for espers, time travelers, and aliens, but to show up because of that and then not even _tell_ me - that's just too much!"

Kyon takes a minute to massage his temples - what's got him this wound up? Now I'm starting to worry a bit! "Let's... ugh. I'll definitely tell you about yourself, but for now, I think it might help if I explained Koizumi a bit more," he offers. "It'll lead into you, and hopefully give me some time to organize my thoughts a little before I get there."

Now I'm definitely worried! I bite my lip, but then nod. "All right - I'll trust your judgement," I allow, then snort. "God knows, if I'd done that last year we'd already have been through this conversation by now!"

He gives me a pensive look at that, then smiles slightly. "Actually, it may be better that it's coming out now. It's still going to be complicated, but... I'm not as worried about you finding out now as I would have been then. You've come a long way in a year, Haruhi."

Oh crap, and there's nowhere to hide my blush here - although I do turn my head to the side, looking out the window at the plaza. "Thanks, although I'm not sure why you're saying that after I punched Koizumi - it sounds like I might have been jumping to the wrong conclusion pretty badly there."

Kyon snickers at that. "You know, any day other than today? I probably would have been more upset that it was _you_ that did it and not _me_. There have been plenty of times I've been tempted to punch an esper, although he's not really malicious, just annoying.

"After he talked to me today, though, I was actually feeling a bit sorry for him, at least a little. Ah, but I should probably explain more about his abilities and what it is that he does - it might make a bit more sense, then."

I nod, turning to face him again as he explains - he's relaxing a bit, which is good to see. With the way he was getting tense about talking about me-

Well, he said he'll get there, and I can be patient until then.

"Like I mentioned, Koizumi is an esper, although his ESP isn't really something that shows up as anything unusual or flashy - in this world at least. About the only thing I know of that works for him here is being able to read other people's emotions - specifically, yours."

I blink, then scowl as the realization sets in. "So he _was_ reading my mind all this time?" I growl.

"I don't know about reading your _mind_," Kyon cautions. "I'm not completely clear on it, but what he described sounds more like empathy than telepathy - he could tell what you were feeling, not what you were thinking. You'd probably have to ask him for more details though - I only know what he's told me."

"Fair enough," I grumble. "Anyway, I noticed that you said 'could', not 'can'. He can't, anymore?"

"Apparently not," Kyon replies. "He didn't know why, but at some point earlier this week his link to you just broke out of nowhere - seems like it shook him up pretty badly. He'd been living with it there for... I suppose four or five years, I don't know exactly how long it'd be at this point.

"So he was freaked out by that and wanted to talk to me about it - and then he couldn't, because you were always around." He shoots me a look across the table. "Which, now that I know you were investigating the Brigade members, makes a bit more sense - were you keeping us separated on purpose?"

"Actually, yeah." I can't help but smirk a bit. "I'd picked up more on how fake he'd been acting and how irritated you usually look when he's pulled you aside to talk, so I figured I'd give you a break for a few days - and then the more he kept hanging around, the more I wondered what was so important that I couldn't hear about."

He raises one hand, looking solemn. "I have no complaints on that count." The effect is ruined by a chuckle a minute later, though. "Anyway, that was one half of the problem - the other half has to do more with the powers he _can't_ use here, and where we disappeared to - which is linked to your emotions."

I frown a bit at the reminder, but nod at him to continue.

"Basically, when you get angry or upset, you form what are called 'closed spaces', which have these weird blue glowing giants in them he calls 'celestials'. His job in that space is to use his esper powers - stuff like flying and energy attacks, the kind of flashy stuff that looks cool - to destroy these.

He holds up a hand to forestall any questions as he finishes. "Don't ask me why it happens, I don't know. As far as 'why you', that gets into the part about you specifically, and I'll get there in a bit. Anyway, apparently the celestials were causing a lot of havoc last night and acting in ways that none of the espers had ever seen before, so he was additionally worried about that and got almost no sleep.

"So when I came out of the room alone, he jumped on the chance to talk to me, and dragged me off for fear that you'd interrupt us when you found out. I tried to tell him I'd promised to meet you in the clubroom, but he wouldn't listen - just dragged me off to a closed space that had just formed a few minutes before, and that's where he told me most of this. When we got back - well, you know what happened from there."

I stare at the tabletop for a minute, digesting what Kyon said. "I... guess I can understand that, although the biggest question I have is still 'why me'." I say after a moment to think. "I've seen something like those 'celestial' things before in my dreams, or at least they sound pretty similar, so I can believe what you're describing.

"But even if I hadn't seen them before, or at least something like them... I decided this morning that when I was going to talk to you, I'd believe what you had to say. I realized after talking to Mikuru that I... might have done a lot of hurtful things just because I didn't pay enough attention to other people."

I look up at Kyon, forcing myself to meet his eyes even though I want to look away. "I... should have listened to you before when you tried to tell me - and... at other times, too. I was wrong, and I've taken too long to say it, but... I'm sorry."

Kyon doesn't say anything to that for a minute, just studying my face. I make myself look back at him, even though it makes me uncomfortable. After a long moment, he finally smiles a bit, and I can feel myself relax a little as he speaks. "You know, that's about the last thing I would have expected to hear you say. Thank you, Haruhi.

"That... actually makes me feel a lot less worried about the rest of what I need to tell you." He glances outside, then frowns. "While I don't want to put that off, it does look like it's getting pretty late - I'll need a minute to call home first, my family's probably getting a bit worried by now."

I start a bit at that, pulling out my phone to check the time - wow, it's almost 6, my mom will probably be the same. "Sure, go ahead - I'll just check in with my mom too. Maybe we can grab something to eat and finish up." This cafe is good for desserts and pastries, but I'm not really crazy about the rest of their food - and the fact that I skipped lunch is catching up with me.

He nods and gets out of the booth to make his call; I take a minute to check my messages. Looks like I've gotten a text from Sakanaka, wishing me luck, and then a voicemail from my mom - it figures. She's running late herself and says I should fend for myself for tonight anyway. I text her back to let her know that I'm eating out with a friend, then slide out of the booth to catch up with Kyon.

He's just outside the cafe, closing his phone from his own call as I reach him. "All clear?" I prompt.

"Yeah," he replies laconically. "She's a little annoyed that I didn't call sooner, but not too upset. You?"

"Mom's working late tonight, so I'd be having dinner by myself anyway," I answer. "Anyway, pick someplace nice! You've got a penalty for missing the club meeting when I specifically told you to be there, so this had better be good!" I put on a mock scowl.

He just shakes his head at that. "Why am I not surprised. Anyway, there's a sushi place not too far from here that's pretty good, and hopefully won't destroy my wallet."

"Who said you were paying?" I retort. "I just said you had a penalty, I didn't say what it _was_."

"You mean I'm _not_ paying?" he says incredulously. "All right, who are you and what have you done with Haruhi?" He gives me a mock glare.

"Don't push it, Kyon, or you _will_ be paying for it," I warn. "But sushi sounds fine, let's go!"

* * *

><p>Dinner progresses fairly easily. Remembering the last time it was just the two of us, I don't make Kyon pay for both of us - particularly since I'm starving. In a way, he's doing me a favor by telling me all this stuff, so I don't need to give him hell for it. We don't talk about much of anything during the meal, though. There's not really much else to look at since we're both concentrating on eating, but all the same our eyes meet way too often for it to just be coincidence.<p>

After the meal, though, we head out; the restaurant is too crowded with salarymen headed home to really have a serious conversation, and so we end up taking a walk through the park near the station as the twilight is starting to fade, the stars just becoming visible past the city lights.

I can't say a part of me isn't enjoying the silence; it's kind of nice just to spend time with Kyon, now that the air between us is mostly cleared. There's still more I want to know from him, and more I want to say for myself, but for now, this is enough.

Our route eventually takes us past a bench, situated next to a small stream running through the park. Kyon starts a little when he sees it, then under his breath - just on the edge of my hearing - mutters, "Why not?"

With that, he tugs on my arm, drawing me over to the bench where he takes a seat. I raise an eyebrow, not yet sitting down. "Here?" I prompt.

"It seems to be a good place for momentous revelations," he says with a smirk. In reply to a questioning look, he elaborates: "This is where Asahina-san first told me she was a time traveler, and we've had a few other 'classified information' conversations here as well."

I scowl a bit at the reminder of Mikuru and Kyon spending time alone, but plop down on the bench next to him. I give him a sidelong look, then pop the question. "So. You spent a lot of time implying that I'm some important part of why Mikuru, Yuki, and Koizumi are all in the Brigade, and I got the impression it's not just because I dragged them in there - especially with what you said about Koizumi. So... what's so special about me?"

Kyon blows out a breath at that, rubbing his hands on the legs of his pants. "Yeah, that's entirely true. You're definitely in the middle of what's going on. Um... so Nagato told you that she's looking for data to help the entity evolve, and part of why Mikuru is here is to protect the future she comes from. Koizumi, in a way, is working to save the world."

He turns to look at me out of the corner of his eye as he goes on. "And yeah, you're at the center of all of those things. Heh... even after this much time, I still haven't come up with a way to break this easily, so I guess I'll just have to jump in and see where the current takes me. I hope you're serious about believing me, since this may be the hardest thing to believe of all.

"All three of them are here because of you, Suzumiya Haruhi. You haven't known it, up to now at least, but you literally have the power to change the world - and I mean that literally, not just in the 'right person in the right place' sort of way. Things that you want to happen, happen, whether they make sense or not or are even possible, normally.

"It may seem hard to believe, but I've seen the results for myself, so I know it's true. You have the power to change reality."

I raise an eyebrow at that. "Change reality? What's that supposed to mean - everything we do changes reality, whether it's tying my shoes or taking the train to school! Reality isn't the same as it was before."

Kyon works his jaw for a moment, then soldiers on. "I mean it more literally than that. You can... rewrite reality so that what you want actually happens. It's... think of it like being a genie, except that you only grant your own wishes."

It's all I can do not to burst out laughing at this solemn speech about something so utterly ridiculous, but before I can start I look over at Kyon. He looks genuinely nervous about this, waiting to see how I'll react; seeing that, I have enough time to catch myself before I blow it off entirely.

Didn't I say I was going to believe Kyon? I certainly believed John Smith, and now here he is in front of me, telling me more amazing things about the world - and about _me_! John Smith - Kyon - was absolutely right about aliens, time travelers, and espers, and not only did I believe him, but I proved it myself with all three.

Why would he tell the truth about all of that, and then lie about me?

I sit back on the bench with a thump, thinking about what Kyon just said. "You're serious about that, aren't you?" I prod.

"Absolutely!" he replies. "This isn't the kind of thing I'd joke about, believe me - after what's happened this past year, it's been more than proven to me."

"Really?" I raise an eyebrow. "What have I done that's gotten you so convinced?"

He shrugs uncomfortably. "Well, most of what you'd probably remember happened during the movie shoot last year," he explains. "The most obvious one was the cherry trees blooming out of nowhere, just after you'd complained that you wanted sakura petals for one of the shots in the movie. That one actually attracted a lot of attention - there was actually a TV news story about it."

Of course I remember it! "You're saying _I_ made the cherry trees bloom?" I sputter.

"Among other things," he affirms. "You also turned a flock of pigeons from gray to white, and poor Asahina-san's 'Mikuru Beam' - well, let's just say that wasn't _purely_ special effects in the movie."

I'm left speechless at that, but only for a moment. "Wait, you're saying Mikuru actually _has_ an eyebeam?"

"Had," Kyon corrects me, shifting on the bench to face me a bit more. "It's been deactivated or nullified now, but the first time Asahina-san actually used it, Nagato saved my life. The first time it was a laser, and it probably would have gone through both the camera and my head if she hadn't intercepted it."

I can feel the blood drain from my face as I turn to look at Kyon, who's wearing a shaky smile. "This is part of why I was a bit worried about telling you - even without knowing it, you've done some dangerous things with that power.

"Not that I think it was intentional!" he's quick to add. "But yes - there's a lot of potential for something to go wrong involved with it. Koizumi's been adamantly against you finding anything out for just that reason - those closed spaces I mentioned? Those are apparently your subconscious attempts to remake the world when you're frustrated with it, and by fighting the celestials in them, he prevents that from happening."

"Remake the _world_?" I choke out. "You've got to be kidding about that much, really!"

Kyon sighs at that. "Well... it's true that I'm mostly going on Koizumi's word, there, but I've had... personal experience with that, too." For some reason that makes him start to blush, and he looks away from me. "It's... well, I don't know if you'd actually remember it, but you actually pulled me into one of them with you once, about a year ago.

"At the end I remember waking up in my bed, but the others remembered it too - so I know it wasn't just a dream."

That one, he's wrong about. I don't remember all of the times I've dreamed about the giants, but that one... _that_ one stuck in my mind, and for a very good reason. Almost involuntarily, I raise my hand to my mouth, touching my lips. Kyon seems to catch the movement out of the corner of his eye, and he goes a bit redder himself.

"You're saying... that wasn't a dream, then?" My voice sounds hoarse, even to me. "You really did..."

"Yeah," he says, pausing to swallow. "I really did... kiss you, at least as far as I can tell. I don't... really know how much of it was a dream and how much of it was real, but we were both there and remembered parts of it - you wore your hair in a ponytail the next day, which was... something I mentioned in the dream.

"It was... you were in the process of remaking the world because Asahina-san and I had been playing around in the clubroom, and I needed to do something to show you that this world was worth keeping around, to show that I really meant it."

My head is whirling with this on top of everything else, so I lean back with a thump and let my head dangle over the back of the bench while I try to sort out my thoughts. There's a pretty bright streetlamp over the bench, though, so I press the heels of my hands into my eyes to shield them as I try to get things in order.

First things first: Kyon is John Smith. I've accepted this, I'm okay with it, I think I can handle that much. I'll go ahead and put the other brigade members in this category since it's... not that big a stretch compared to the whole John Smith thing, so I can accept that too.

Secondly: I apparently have the ability to, in some way, make my desires real. Apparently not all the time - it sure doesn't feel like I get my way as much as I'd like! - but at some level, it can and does happen. This... is stretching the limits of credibility. However, the examples Kyon gave me would be pretty hard to explain away by any other means - the cherry trees alone is pretty weird, although I remember just thinking at the time that it was really convenient.

If I accept that - and I said I'd believe Kyon, so I need to - then third: Kyon actually took my first kiss in what _seemed_ like a dream almost a year ago, but apparently actually wasn't. He just took it! Didn't ask, didn't lead up to it with anything romantic, he just kissed me! And then afterward, he never made any kind of move to approach me again like that!

Was he just yanking my chain? Just trying to make a dramatic impact?

I can feel the anger rising; I pull my head back up and grit my teeth as I respond. "Kyon... you stole my first kiss just to make some kind of... of scene? You didn't mean it at all?"

"No... No!" he protests, starting up from the bench and turning to face me. "I wouldn't do something like that without meaning it no matter what the others said!"

"The others s- _what_? They _told_ you to kiss me?" I shriek.

He bites off a soft curse at that, covering his face with one hand. "Look, I... all right, yes, they did," he sighs. "Not in so many words, but they gave enough hints that even Kyon the eternally dense could figure it out.

"Like I _just said_, though, even with all of that I wouldn't have done it unless I meant something by it! All right, yes, I might not have had the courage to do it without having the idea put in my head, I'll admit it - but if I truly _hadn't_ cared about you, I wouldn't have done it at all! I..." He struggles for words, then his shoulders slump. "I'm not... _decisive_ enough to come up with something like that on my own."

I just glare at him, my frown not dissipating in the slightest.

He wilts a bit more at that. "Look- I'm not... really looking for excitement, although there's definitely been plenty of it to find me," he says, running a hand through his hair nervously. "I'm... well, I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy my time in the Brigade this past year, but honestly, even with all the crazy things that have happened, it's the slow times I enjoy the most - drinking Asahina-san's tea, playing board games with Koizumi. Spending a morning out with the others while on a 'mystery search', when no one really expects to find anything - it's just a time to hang out and enjoy each other's company, unless something weird is going on.

"Trying to kiss you there... it was definitely not something I would have looked for myself. Not that it was bad - not at all! - but taking that kind of risk isn't something I'd normally try to do on my own. I had no way of knowing how you'd react, after all, and if you really got upset with me, given what was going on just then..."

I'm about to lay into him again when I stop for a moment to think. From what he said, if he _hadn't_ kissed me there, the world as he knew it was going to end. Looking at my own situation now, he just _did_ remake my world with everything he's told me, and I'm certainly not thinking in terms of romance - why would he? What he _did_ have was people telling him that kissing me would make things better, and he didn't have any reason _not_ to.

It still doesn't thrill me, but twisting his arm about it isn't going to get either one of us anywhere. I'm not inclined to just leave it like that, though.

"All right - fine, I'll accept that," I admit grudgingly. "That still doesn't explain why you never followed up on it afterwards, though."

He doubletakes at that. "I- wait, you would have _wanted_ me to? You seemed pretty clear with your stance on romance!"

Touch.

Well, it's not like I hadn't been considering this since last night, anyway, and if I really want to get Kyon to tell me whether he likes me, the least I can do is to share my own feelings.

"Well... maybe I was... wrong about that," I murmur, feeling the color start to rise to my cheeks again. Come on, Suzumiya, don't turn into one of those mushy addlepated idiots about this! Suddenly, a thought comes to me, and I know how I want to do this.

"So - if you say you at least partly meant that kiss, then you had to be attracted to me at some level," I start, snapping my head forward and eyeing Kyon as I await his answer.

"Wait, where did this come from?" He backs away a half step, clearly caught off-guard.

"Well?" I demand.

"Well, I... um, yes," Kyon admits, still baffled.

"What caught your interest then?" I challenge, getting up off the bench myself.

"I... that is... uh...," he sputters. "I suppose at first it was what you were interested in, and all the strange things you were doing at the beginning of the year. I wondered why you'd work so hard to find non-humans, whether you really _did_ think you could find them."

"So Haruhi the paranormal nut, then," I say, frowning a bit. "I made it pretty clear from the beginning that I was serious, though! But you didn't leave me alone after that - why?"

"What is this, an inquisition?" he manages to retort.

"Just answer the question!" I bark back.

"Well... even after that, you were still interesting to talk to," he continues, taking time to search for his words. "It was pretty obvious you didn't really care about things that just about everyone else did, and it was kind of a challenge to see what I could get you to talk about - sort of learning who you were, I guess."

I smirk at that as I circle around behind him - exactly what I was aiming for. "But everyone knew who Suzumiya Haruhi was! The paranormal nut, the troublemaker, the star athlete, the 'beast girl' of East Middle School! Yeah, I know the rumors that went around about me. I knew you hung around with Taniguchi, so you'd have to have heard all those things - he gossips worse than most girls I've met!

"You heard all those things, and you _still_ thought you needed to find out about me?"

"I... actually, yeah. I did hear most of those rumors, true, but by then I'd already started to get to know you a little bit, and I'd at least figured out that there was more to you than just those things," he says, scratching the back of his head.

"And _that_," I say, poking him in the chest hard enough to knock him back onto the bench, "is exactly why I like you. You're the only person I've ever met that didn't try to put me in some kind of box with a label on it and say 'Okay, we can put Haruhi in here and then we'll know what to do with her.'

"You actually took the time and the effort to figure out who I was, or at least more so than anyone else ever has." I've got to be blushing like an idiot now, but at least I'm in charge here, not fumbling around for words. "You're the only person that ever bothered to get to know me, and that's why I like you."

He stares up at me in shock, half sprawled across the bench. "W-what the hell?" is all he can manage to stammer out.

And then...

And then he starts _laughing_. That is absolutely not what I would have expected out of Kyon right now, and I don't like it one bit!

"What, you think this is _funny_?" I snap. "I was being serious!"

"No, no," he replies, still chuckling as he straightens up on the bench. "I'm not laughing at you, it's... one of those situations where you have to either laugh or cry. It's just that... today looks like it's the day when absolutely everything I ever put off is coming back to haunt me."

I just raise an eyebrow at that, crossing my arms as I wait for the explanation.

"Ah, sorry about that," he says, shaking his head. "It's just that I've been over this scenario dozens of times in my head, and I don't think I ever imagined anything where you'd actually be the one to confess to _me_ - or at least not like this. I should have realized it'd have to be something beyond what I could imagine if it was coming from you."

I snort in reply to that, but then the full impact of what he just said hits me. "So... you've considered doing the same?" I ask quietly.

His mirth fades, but his smile doesn't completely. "Yeah, I guess I have. Pretty much starting after that kiss - you _did_ change your hair the next day, so I had a feeling you weren't entirely upset by it.

"At the time, though, the stories about your history at East Middle were still fresh in my mind, though, and what we had then seemed to be fine - so why risk it if you decided to break things off in a week or two?"

I frown a bit at that, but nod anyway - it does make sense.

"After that, things stayed pretty much the same, up until we made the movie." He closes his eyes at that, and the smile fades. "A lot of things happened there, which... well, I imagine you remember them as well as I do, so I won't rehash them. Anyway, that kind of changed how I looked at you for a while. I realized that maybe I didn't know you as well as I should, then."

I look away, staring at the light glinting off the surface of the brook since I'm uncomfortable with meeting his eyes. "I guess I didn't exactly show my best side then," I admit grudgingly.

Kyon sighs at that, putting his hands on the edge of the bench. "You weren't the only one. I probably shouldn't have gotten as angry as I did myself, and then Koizumi afterward..."

I remember that Koizumi was the one to stop Kyon from actually hitting me; I look back at Kyon. "What do you mean - what about Koizumi?"

"After we fought, he spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to get me to patch things up with you, which annoyed me quite a bit," he explains, shaking his head. "And then after everything finally blew over, he went out of his way to say that he thought that Asahina-san wasn't trustworthy, and was just acting the way she did to try to manipulate me - that he thought she was sent here specifically to get close to me.

"Given that she'd told me directly that I _shouldn't_ get close to her, though, it really didn't make sense. After that point, he and I... well, he moved on to being a bit more than just annoying at that point, and I've haven't completely trusted him since then. He's offered some help once or twice, but that... left a really bad impression."

Well, that would explain the reason why he's always looked irritated when Koizumi talks to him.

"Anyway, I suppose that's really not important to... what we're talking about," Kyon goes on, straightening out his posture on the bench. "After what happened with you and Asahina-san... I was pretty angry with you for quite a while, and so romance wasn't really the foremost thing in my mind. You did seem to understand why I was upset though, even if you didn't say so - I did notice you never tried anything like that again. The closest you ever came was trying to bet Nagato when we had that competition with the computer research society, but even then you took the hint when I said something about it.

"Since then, it's been... well, there have been other things to happen since then that aren't entirely important to this, but since that time I've mostly been watching, I suppose. What happened with the movie... mmm, it told me that I didn't really know you all that well, even with all the talking we'd done up to that point - part of what got me so angry was that I didn't really think you could be so... so thoughtless." He turns his face away from me at that admission.

I bite my lip at that, lowering my head until my bangs shade my eyes. It's... well, it's not like this isn't stuff I've already thought about, but it still doesn't feel very good to hear him say it out loud.

He seems to catch my expression, though, and smiles a bit. "Before you beat yourself up about that _too_ much, though, you also did one of the most impressive things I've seen you do right after that. What you did for the members of ENOZ at the cultural festival... you took that unreasonable skill at doing just about everything and used it to help out - and really, it was amazing. And after that - when we were lost in the snow, you did a lot of the work in looking out for Nagato, and then helping everyone make chocolates at Valentine's... yeah, you've done a lot of good things to counterbalance that dark spot, so don't get too down over it."

At those words, I finally look back up at Kyon, who's giving me one of those wry smiles. "Like I said, I've been trying to pay attention to things - I'm just a normal guy surrounded by amazing people, so there's not honestly a lot else that I _can_ do, most of the time. So yes, like I said when I gave you my reviews, I do think you've made a lot of improvement over this year - and at this point I think I know you well enough that I actually _could_ ask you out and it mean something more than just thinking you're cute, which if I'm telling the truth is probably not too far from what it would have been if I'd tried it last year."

"Then you _have_ been thinking about asking me out again?" I try not to sound breathless, but after hearing him say all of that, I'm not even sure what to think now.

He turns his eyes away from me for a moment in thought, then nods. "Thought about, but... if I'm being honest, I wouldn't have done it for a couple of reasons. One - and this one is probably kind of petty - is that lately Koizumi's been trying to push me into it. I don't know if he picked up signals from your side, but with as long as we've been friends, and maybe hinting at more, he's been trying to get me to date you for a couple of months - off and on since a little after Valentine's, really. Honestly, I have a hard time believing the guy, so I tend to think he wants it to happen just to make you more 'stable' - it means less worry for him, after all. There may be a part of him that honestly thinks it's for the best for both of us, but with as much as he annoys me it's hard to think the best of the guy."

"Well, I can't blame you for that, at least," I say, scowling a bit. "Honestly, the more I hear about him the more I wonder how I never figured him out before now!"

"In fairness, he _was_ able to tell how you were feeling most of the time," Kyon demurs. "Not to excuse him, but when he can tell what kind of mood you've been in lately, I imagine it wouldn't be that hard to polish up the yes-man act in just the right way to get on your best side."

"I guess that's true," I mutter. "You said there were other reasons why you wouldn't ask me out, though?"

He just shrugs at that. "The biggest one, and what would have probably kept me from doing it indefinitely? We just finished talking about it."

I knit my brow at that. "Talking about what? There's been so much I don't even know what part of it you mean."

"All of it, pretty much," Kyon replies. "The idea of... well, dating you, and trying to keep all of this a secret still? It'd mean we'd spend more time together alone, and given how much there was to hide, I doubt I could have kept it up perfectly for very long - the only way I could see around it would be to try to keep you distracted with other things, and... well, honestly, I've never really liked the idea of trying to lie to you directly. Keeping things secret that you didn't notice anyway, sure, but deliberately lying? Ehh, the only time I've ever even considered that was after the snow mountain incident, and even then I had no idea what I could actually have said. Most of the rest of it has just been keeping quiet about things you didn't know about very much - like Asakura."

I mull that over for a few moments, pacing back and forth in front of the bench. "So... what you're saying is that now, there's not really anything that would keep you from going out with me?"

That elicits another shrug. "At this point, not really. Koizumi pushing me into it doesn't really matter at this point."

I feel my usual fire returning at that. "That's... good. That's perfect, actually. Fine, then! Saturday - you, me, mystery search, the others aren't invited - and you'd better take me out for something amazing, if this is going to be our first date!"

He splutters in reply to that. "Wait, what? You mean... that's just it, as of now we're dating?"

"You just finished telling me there wasn't a good reason not to!" I retort. "I said I liked you, you've said you like me, so what reason do we have _not_ to? It's decided!"

He just continues to look shocked for a minute, then finally gives that sardonic smile he's so fond of as he stands up. "You know, at this point I'd expect no less from the SOS Brigade Chief. I suppose since I'm just a normal human, I'll have to do my best to keep it interesting."

"And that's another thing!" I bark. "If we're going to be dating, none of this 'brigade chief' stuff! It's 'Haruhi', got it?"

"Oh man, what have I gotten myself into now?" he moans, although the grin on his face tells me he doesn't entirely mean it. "Of course, my darling Haruhi - now, since it's pretty late, do you want me to walk you home?"

I slide my arm through the elbow he's offering, then offer a smirk of my own. "No need to go overboard, just don't you forget it... Kyousuke."

The look of pleased shock on his face makes that moment all too worth it. He's not the only one that can deliver a surprise!


	8. Epilogue

It's been a weird couple of weeks. I'd almost forgotten about all of the notes I took during my investigation, I've been so busy, but I should at least wrap things up. I've found out a lot more in this past two weeks about everyone, after all.

As far as Yuki goes, she's been a huge help. Once I got a better explanation of what had happened with her and the data entity that sent her here, one of the first things I did with my power - and some hints from Yuki herself - was to get her protected from them. According to what she and Kyon had to say, it's probably not going to make me popular with them, but there's not really much they can do about it, either. Both of them said that there'd probably still be other interfaces around to watch me - like the computer society president's so-called girlfriend - but as long as they leave us alone, I don't really care. Anything like what happened between Asakura and Kyon back in the beginning part of the year, though, and I'll definitely end up doing something more permanent - and less pleasant - about them!

For her own part, though, Yuki seems pretty happy with the way things have turned out. She's not in any more danger from the data entity, and she says she wants to stay around with us - both to protect Kyon and to learn as much as she can from all of us. It's a little weird to see her actively taking an interest in things, though; aside from the contest with the computer society last year I've never seen her get fired up about much of anything. It's definitely not a _bad_ change, just one that'll take some getting used to.

She's been helping me learn a lot about my powers, too; apparently what she can do is similar enough to what I can do - although it's not the same - that a lot of the things she had to keep in mind when 'manipulating data' is useful for me to know when I'm trying to make changes. A lot of it is about things like the scope of the changes I make and what consequences they can have that I didn't intend when I made it; I learned a little of that on my own before we really started talking about it, too - I tried making my hair longer, only I didn't say how _much_ longer. Do you have any idea how much eight feet of hair actually _weighs_?

Anyway, while I'm still figuring out the limits on the kinds of things I can change safely, I'm trying not to make many changes at all. Apparently I still make some small ones without thinking about it, but Yuki can usually pick up on them and let me know, and I can change it back if it looks like it might be a problem. There hasn't been much of that so far, at least; the school cafeteria food has improved quite a bit, and somehow the school managed to pick up a central air conditioning system.

Koizumi, on the other hand, hasn't been around much. I did at least apologize for hitting him a couple of days later at the next Brigade meeting, but it seems to have taken a lot of the wind out of his sails. Kyon's talked with him more than I have, though, and apparently his whole Organization thing has been turned upside-down by this - according to what he told Kyon, he's not even sure whether it'll hold together at this point. A couple of days after that, though, he took a leave of absence from school.

Kyon said he went home to see his family; apparently after being assigned to join the Brigade when he transferred in last year, he hasn't been back to see them for more than a couple of days at a time, and with everything that had happened he wanted to get some time away to think, anyway. Kyon's been keeping in touch with him via email, and he expects that Koizumi will come back in time; he's just got a lot to sort out at the moment. I'm leaving it to him to handle, though - while I can understand that, it still kind of creeps me out to think that he's been completely aware of everything I've been feeling since before he even met me.

In regards to that, though, the mental link that the espers had with me also seems to be permanently gone. Apparently when I wished that no one could see my thoughts while I was thinking about the possibility of Koizumi being able to read my mind, I cut the link with _all_ the espers, not just him. Given how far my ability seems to go I could probably put it back, but I'm in no hurry to let other people back into my head, thank you very much. The closed spaces that used to form when I was upset seem to have vanished completely, too, so it's not like there's any _need_ for them to know how I'm feeling. From what I understand, they hadn't been much of an issue for a long time anyway, and they're guessing that now that I know they happen, they won't anymore - which makes sense. No doubt I'm still going to get frustrated with the world, but remaking the whole thing just because I'm upset? Come on, I'm not _that_ spoiled!

Mikuru... with Mikuru I'm still trying to figure out how to deal with her. Apparently after I blew her cover she was convinced that her bosses in the future were going to call her back for having failed her 'mission', but it still hadn't happened by the time school started up the next Monday. What I saw in the cafe, just before Kyon and I had our long talk, was her saying goodbye - she had no idea how long she'd be able to stick around after that.

_That_ much I could - and did - do something about. After she filled me in at the Brigade meeting on that Monday, I changed things so that her bosses couldn't pull her back from the future if she didn't want them to, but she could still go back if she decided for herself that was what she wanted to do - it's definitely not fair that she could get yanked out of this time if she doesn't want to be, but if I keep her here when she doesn't want to be, I'm no better than they are. Yuki was able to help me make sure I wouldn't mess anything up doing that, and aside from getting chewed out for it by her boss, Mikuru said it didn't seem to have changed anything that she could find out about. I'd like to let her have complete control over her ability to time travel, too, but we'll all probably need to have a long talk about that before I try anything - me, Kyon, Mikuru, and Yuki.

As far as Mikuru and Kyon go, though... I'm really not sure what to do about that. It was pretty obvious that she likes him a lot, and while I don't think he was lying at all about being interested in me when we talked, I don't think he's completely uninterested in her, either. I haven't really talked with _anyone_ about this yet, but I'm considering whether it might be possible for all three of us to... well. Kyon would have to be an idiot to turn down two good-looking girls that both say they're interested in him - what normal teenage guy _wouldn't_ dream of something like that? - but I'm not sure how Mikuru will take the suggestion.

After Kyon and I both confessed to each other, I have to admit that I'm a lot less worried about Mikuru - or anyone else, really - taking him away; he's John Smith, he's admitted that he likes me too, and you'd better believe I'm not letting go of him after all of that came out. All the same, though, I can see that he means a lot to other people, too - and for pretty good reasons - and so maybe, just _maybe_, it might be possible to share. I'm still not entirely how to broach the idea with Mikuru, though, so for now I've just been trying to get to know her better to figure out how to phrase it. Even that's been something of an education, though; she comes from far enough in the future, apparently, that some of the stuff we take for granted has been lost in the past - some of the things she finds interesting are just _weird_ - but seeing her surprise at some of those things has made me realize that there can be a lot more weird and cool things in the world than just what I'm interested in myself.

And then there's Kyon himself. Now that I've got a better excuse to watch him (not that I didn't before, but if we're dating I have a lot less reason to have to make excuses), he's actually a lot more amazing than I ever gave him credit for. When we finally got together and met after that weekend, I did officially make him second-in-command; Koizumi didn't really put up any argument, and Kyon basically took charge of the meeting anyway - for once, I really didn't know what to say to everyone else. He took over and filled them all in, though - told them I knew about my power now, and that he'd told me about it himself, since I'd worked everything out about all of them and there wasn't any good way to explain why they were all there _without_ telling me about myself.

The reactions said a lot, really. Yuki didn't seem surprised at all, Mikuru was slightly startled but not really that shaken up, and Koizumi looked like he was about to have a heart attack; his face went completely gray, and he gave Kyon this incredibly frightened look. Kyon picked up on that himself, though, and told me later that he called Koizumi and talked about it that night. He didn't really go into any details about what he said, but Koizumi did at least seem less worried in the few meetings he was around for after that - just really, really tired.

Most of that meeting we spent talking about all the things that had happened over the last year. Some of it I knew - like that bizarre time gap we had up in the mountains at New Year's. Some of it I had absolutely no clue even happened; the 'cave cricket' sounded pretty crazy for something I'd only assumed was a dead end, and the fact that there really were some kind of alien organisms causing the problem with Sakanaka's dog Rousseau is kind of freaky to consider, especially when I found out they're still around and living in Kyon's cat (who apparently was able to talk at one point!)

Some of it was kind of disturbing, though. Finding out the full story about Kyon's coma was... I was pretty upset with Yuki, actually - creating an entire new world just because she was annoyed with me, and dragging Kyon into it too! I can kind of understand why; six hundred years of the same two weeks over and over again would probably drive anyone crazy, but that's still no excuse - she should have said something to someone first! Kyon, if no one else, should have been able to talk to her about it. It sounded like they'd already been through that talk when I brought it up, though, so I didn't really hammer it in myself.

That two weeks, though... wow. There's absolutely nothing that stands out to me at all about the end of last year's summer vacation, other than Kyon being unusually fired up about getting homework done. To think that we all went through that same two weeks _thousands_ of times... At least the others just remember some weird deja vu, but for Yuki? I can't really imagine, and I'm not sure I'd want to if I could. So while I'm upset over what she did to Kyon... I guess I can understand why she'd be a bit annoyed with me, and so I'm willing to let it go since he doesn't seem that upset about it himself.

And even those things are just scratching the surface. I heard so many things, from everyone there - even Kyon heard about a few things that happened that _he_ hadn't known before. It's still kind of surprising how many things I caused to happen, or made happen around me, even when I wasn't the immediate cause, but it does really drive home how little attention I really paid to what was happening around me a lot of the time. Like with the movie - I didn't even remember all the crazy things Yuki did to try to keep everyone safe, or a lot of the 'accidents' that were caused by all of Mikuru's eye beams.

It's definitely a lesson I'll be keeping in mind from here on out, though.

As far as the rest goes... hmm. Well, I did talk to Tsuruya last week, to thank her for the tip about Mikuru's 'sister'; I didn't fill her in about much else, but she'd apparently picked up the news about me and Kyon getting together from the rumor mill. Most of that call ended up with me explaining that - and, well, dealing with a few jokes at our expense. So what if it took us a year to get together? That's between me and Kyon, not her!

It really does point out that she seems to know a lot more than she usually lets on, though. I could probably stand to learn something from her as far as that goes.

And for Sakanaka and the other girls in my class, well... I still owe them a big favor for all their help in those last couple of days. I still haven't talked to the others very much, but Sakanaka came over the day after Kyon and I had the really long talk and we had _another_ really long talk, although we didn't get into anything except my relationship with Kyon. It... was actually really nice to have someone as a sounding board that wasn't tied up in all the stuff about me like the other Brigade members are, and that could stay focused on just one topic - with everything that's been running through my head lately, that's actually been kind of a struggle for once.

She helped me sort out a lot of thoughts about Kyon, and even some about Mikuru - although I don't know what she'd think if I actually told her about what I'm considering trying there; that's something I'll need to get settled with Mikuru and Kyon first anyway. But Sakanaka did help a lot in getting my feelings sorted out from the tangled mess they were in. Looking back, most of our talk probably just sounded like typical high-school romance gossip, but in the end... the important part was that I could tell someone that I trusted about how mixed-up I was feeling, and know that she wouldn't run off and blab everything I had to say to the rest of the world. It's another thing that kind of pointed out that things don't have to be strange to be interesting or good; she's even more normal than Kyon is, but I was really grateful to have her around to talk to, especially once the gossip started flying about the two of us - well, more so than before.

Yeah, unsurprisingly, it didn't take long for the rumors to explode that Kyon and I were an item; apparently it had been hinted at for a long time before now, but within a few days it seemed like just about _everyone_ was shooting knowing looks at the two of us. Kyon suspects that Taniguchi was probably behind it, but in the end it doesn't really matter all that much - if they weren't gossiping about us, they'd be talking about something even less interesting, and even with the crazy rumors going around about us they don't even come _near_ the real truth.

And as far as Kyon and I are concerned? It's been... really nice, actually. He's still a snarky jerk sometimes, and I can still be a pushy bitch sometimes, but we're starting to find some kind of happy medium in there somewhere. I won't say there haven't been some bumps along the way; he can be a lot more dull and uninspired than I like sometimes, and he's carped at me plenty for being unrealistic. Him arguing with me is nothing new, though, and I have to admit that it's a lot more fun to make up afterwards, now!

It really seems like we couldn't possibly be any more different, sometimes, but I'm starting to realize that it's those differences that can make other people a lot more interesting. Somewhere in all those differences, though, there's room for all of us to have fun and be happy - whether we're espers, aliens, time travelers, reality warpers, or just boring, normal, everyday humans.

I'll make sure of that!


End file.
